One of the community group\u2019s lawyers, Daniel Grove, challenged this, pointing to cases where the courts had intervened in the past. <\/p>\n
All parties agreed the group\u2019s application for an interim injunction had to be dealt with quickly, with Judge Andru Isac agreeing to consider the case in a compressed timeframe.<\/p>\n
Toi\u2019s trustees are set to vote on whether to move forward with the proposed sale on Wednesday, after considering public feedback since the deal was unveiled<\/a> on June 2. <\/p>\n At least 75% of trustees need to back the transaction for it to progress.<\/p>\n Then on September 30, Heartland shareholders will vote on whether to advance the deal. Heartland is listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges.<\/p>\n Provided the deal receives the appropriate regulatory approvals, it will take effect in December. <\/p>\n Heartland, in its financial results released today, signalled it didn\u2019t believe the legal action would hinder the proposed transaction\u2019s timeline. <\/p>\n If successful, it would see Toi reinvest in the bank, so it has a 17.5% shareholding in Heartland Group. A Toi nominee and two existing TSB directors would have representation at board level.<\/p>\n In somewhat of a plot twist, Kiwibank\u2019s owner, Kiwi Capital Group (which is Crown-owned), told BusinessDesk on Tuesday it would theoretically be interested in buying TSB<\/a>.<\/p>\n The community group\u2019s lawyer, Grove, told the court Toi started engaging exclusively with Heartland in November, as it sought to sell TSB.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, he said Toi should have put a range of options to the community as it considered how it could fulfil its goal of diversifying its investment portfolio. <\/p>\n These could include divesting from Fisher Funds, which Toi has a 66% shareholding in. <\/p>\n Toi\u2019s lawyer, Smith, dismissed the group\u2019s arguments as a critique of the proposed sale, a querying of its commercial merits, and an expression of the group\u2019s desire for more information and for TSB to ultimately remain community owned. <\/p>\n He effectively said that legally, this wasn\u2019t enough to stop the sale. <\/p>\n Grove said TSB was a \u201ccommunity bank\u201d, not a \u201cnormal bank\u201d. It has a lot of history and is \u201cold school\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n Jen\u00e9e Tibshraeny is the Herald\u2019s Wellington business editor, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. She specialises in Government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.<\/p>\n