British Virgin Islands owner calls in administrator to run NZ diving school Subsea

The dive school owner has called in a voluntary administrator. Photo / File

The British Virgin Islands-based owner of New Zealand's only commercial diving school has called in an administrator who says he plans to set the business on a new path.

Global giant offshore and marine business Marsol Worldwide of the British territory last month appointed Bryan Williams of BWA Insolvency in Auckland to run the NZ School of Outdoor Studies, commonly known as Subsea.

The 20-year-old business, which teaches people to dive 30m to 50m underwater, says it is this country's only commercial dive school and one of only a handful in the world teaching offshore-level courses.

Students dive in Lake Puketirini which the Waikato District Council says "is a newly formed lake that has been developed from a disused coal-mined pit, and is now part of Puketirini, a council-owned park".

Williams said yesterday: "I plan to rehabilitate this business."

No financial statement of position is available yet so it's not possible to say how much it owes creditors or what its assets are.

His July 21 appointment was by the company's board of directors. That was advertised in the Herald yesterday and Williams said although his initial report was due around now, that would be delayed due to the pandemic.

Voluntary administration allows directors to reorganise, restructure and refinance a business, enabling it either to continue or, if that's not possible, to dispose of it so creditors and shareholders get a better deal than with an immediate liquidation.

Adam Ashly was removed as a director and replaced by Dubai's Mohamed Omar Mohamed Ibrahim Mousa, Williams said.

Marsol Worldwide bought the school in 2017 after it was sold by international business Intueri Education Group.

Williams told a creditors' meeting last month that there was "no value for assets because they are owned by a company with common shareholding interest, NZSCDT Holdings".

How much the school owes its landlord is unclear but Williams told the meeting "that the obligation to the landlord is understated".

Williams said all the company's courses were accredited under the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme. The deep scuba dive and supervisor courses were International Maritime Contractors Association recognised.

The school operates from leased premises at 63 Rotowaro Rd, Huntly. The landlord is Twin Lakes Ventures. One full-time employee and three independent contractors are employed, Williams said.

At a creditor meeting on July 31, a Waikato District Council representative raised concerns about a barge in Lake Puketirini.

"While she does not know the value of the barge, the council's concern is the burden for the removal of it if the company does not proceed," minutes recorded.

Williams said current and future barge repairs and maintenance were not recorded in the statement of position. He also noted that the company did not own the barge.

The owner of the school's Huntly premises said he did not know about NZSCDT. He asked if there is a link to NZSCDT and if that company would be liable for unpaid rent but Williams said the shareholder "has established a frequently adopted strategy of separating different aspects of a business operation to ensure a liability did not bleed across distinguishable parts of the business".

Williams said diving instructors, the NZ Qualifications Authority, Tertiary Education Commission, Australian dive course accreditor, landlord and the owner of the plant and equipment - NZSCDT - would "all need to work together for the business to move forward."

A history of the business from Williams said the school has been commercially active for the past 20 years.

It was started in 2000 by Devonport's Kirsty and Stephen Jackson. It had four different sets of shareholders. Marsol bought it from Intueri after that business went into voluntary administration.

In 2017, the Herald reported how Intueri said it had conditionally agreed to sell the NZ School of Outdoor Studies, which trades as the NZ School of Commercial Diver Training and is the only such school in New Zealand.

At the time, Intueri Education Group had $70.7 million of debt with ANZ Bank New Zealand, almost 60 times greater than its market value.

Intueri went into liquidation and last year, the Herald reported on a move by more than 800 shareholders in the failed education provider to mount a class action funded by LPF Group.

The action, led lawyer Adina Thorn and barristers Neil Campbell, QC, and Zane Kennedy, would target the company's promoters and certain former directors and alleges they were responsible for misstatements and improper disclosure, the Herald reported.