The bulk of the reduction has been payments made to secured and preferential creditors.
ANZ Bank has had its first-ranking, $1.8m debt settled in full, while Walter & Wild has had its $4m debt related to a vendor financing arrangement reduced to $1.3m – the only remaining amount owed to secured creditors.
Other secured creditors, whose debts relate to inventory and hire equipment, have had their equipment returned or been repaid as part of the $707,570 owed.
Employees have also had a large repayment made, with sufficient funds realised to pay $1.49m in preferential claims in full, with a $15,000 remaining claim fully settled post the reporting period.
However, payments to employees were for outstanding entitlements to the statutory limit of $31,820, meaning entitlements exceeding the cap have been recategorised as unsecured.
Inland Revenue still holds the largest preferential claim to remain unpaid, totalling $1.96m of unpaid PAYE and GST.
McKay and Logan said they are “awaiting an updated claim from the IRD following submission of a number of pre-appointment returns” and expect to make a distribution to it within the next reporting period.
New Zealand Customs is also owed $7032 relating to outstanding customs duties from before McKay and Logan were appointed. A distribution for this is also expected to be made in the next reporting period.
The total remaining debt owed to preferential creditors is $1.98m.
As for unsecured creditors, a further $2.1m is owed in employee claims that exceeded the previously mentioned statutory cap.
Inland Revenue is owed a further $280,237 for interest and penalties associated with unpaid GST and PAYE obligations.
Another $150,099 is owed to suppliers who hold a secured interest over unpaid inventory.
A further $1m is owed to other unsecured creditors, taking the total remaining debt owed to unsecured creditors to $3.58m.
Overall, the total liabilities outstanding are $6.89m.
McKay and Logan said the business has no further material assets to be realised apart from aged debtors.
Sale to Hart family
Receivers agreed to sell the business and its assets to Hansells Acquisition, a subsidiary of Walter & Wild, for an undisclosed sum in June.
McKay said multiple bids were evaluated for a potential acquisition, including interest from offshore parties, but Walter & Wild won out.
“As receivers, our role was to assess all available options, this transaction represented the best outcome given the situation which had the added benefit of minimising disruption to employees and the community,” McKay said.
“The receivers would like to thank the employees for all their hard work during the receivership as well as acknowledge the support of customers, suppliers and financiers as continued trading without their collective support would not have been possible.”
Walter & Wild confirmed all employees had been offered roles under the new ownership structure, with operations expected to continue without any interruption.
Walter and Wild Holdings is the ultimate shareholding company of Walter & Wild, which is 67% owned by Graeme Hart and 33% owned by Harrison Hart.
Graeme Hart’s net worth was valued at $12.1 billion in the 2025 NBR rich list.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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