RetailX escapes as firms go under

RetailX has managed to avoid liquidation but three other companies in the business empire of Mark Taylor, including The Building Depot, will be wound up.

In the High Court at Christchurch yesterday, Associate Judge Tony Christiansen approved applications to liquidate the do-it-yourself chain and the Taylor family's companies Lennox Corporation and Kiwi Management.

The application to wind up listed retail management firm RetailX was struck out after counsel Peter Mulinder told the court a settlement had been reached between the business and the creditor.

Solicitor Allister Davis said the settlement with accountants Hadlee Kippenberger & Partners was finalised last Thursday but fell short of the $15,734 owed to it by RetailX.

Only last week, RetailX had its shares temporarily suspended by the New Zealand Exchange until it filed its half-year report.

Mulinder told the court that talks between creditors and The Building Depot, Lennox Corporation and Kiwi Management had all broken down.

The Building Depot, run by sole director Taylor, was unexpectedly put into receivership last September at the request of ANZ National Bank, leaving debts of more than $8 million.

It went under the following month when only one of its eight stores, in Hamilton, had been sold as a going concern.

RetailX owned 10 per cent of The Building Depot, with Taylor and his wife owning the remainder.

Brett Wilkinson, the Auckland stockbroker who now holds a 19 per cent stake in RetailX, said he was "very pleased" to hear the company had avoided liquidation.

The news confirmed his belief in the firm and that it was now ready to consider backdoor listing options.

"We have a long way to go. From here on, one has to concentrate on putting the best quality investment into that shell."

- NZPA