Uplifting news in Bendon battle

It must be Christmas - peace has broken out between Eric Watson and Josephine Grierson.

After a legal duel lasting more than two years, companies owned by the pair have settled Grierson's claim she was wrongly cut out of the takeover of lingerie company Bendon in 2002.

That means Grierson, her lawyer, Bruce Stewart, QC, and the Watson company's lawyer, Adam Ross, of Chapman Tripp, will not have to pack their bags for a trip next year to the Privy Council in London.

The terms of the settlement are confidential.

Grierson refused to comment yesterday and nor was comment available from Watson's investment company, Cullen Investments.

Grierson is an Auckland economist and private investor - known lately for launching the Fox Outlet Centre in Northcote.

Watson is the majority owner of the listed Pacific Retail Group, which owns the thriving Bendon retail chain - the $59 million purchase that set Grierson at odds with the Watson empire.

Her case: that she and then business partner, David Hayde, a former director of corporate finance for KPMG, approached Cullen Investments in 2001 with the idea of a largely debt-funded buy-out of Bendon.

One of the attractions: the lingerie-maker was sitting on a honey pot of $17.5 million in cash.

A written agreement from March 29, 2001 - headed up "Straps", allegedly a code name for Bendon - said Grierson's company, Jowada Holdings, could be owed an advisory fee if Cullen, or its associates, went ahead with a takeover without giving Jowada the chance to take part.

Jowada ended up out of the action when Pacific Retail pounced on the company. The Court of Appeal found Cullen owed $886,727 plus GST - an amount to be bumped up by interest and costs.

The win was Grierson's alone, since she and Hayde were no longer business partners.

In August last year, Cullen handed over $1 million-plus - with the intention of getting the money back via a Privy Council appeal.