Hartner offshoot sold to manager

The Wellington arm of collapsed building firm Hartner Construction has been sold in a local management buyout.

The assets and contracts of Hartner in the capital have been transferred to a new firm, Wellington Construction, formed by Terry Pinfold, the former Wellington regional manager of Hartner.

Mr Pinfold said he had hired seven of Hartner's 12 former employees in Wellington.

Hartner, which is building the Hilton Hotel on Auckland's Princes Wharf, went into receivership on February 1.

The new firm's assets were mainly office equipment and plant bought from Hartner receiver John Waller of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Two key contracts come with the sale - a $3 million expansion of the Youth Hostel Association's hostel on Cambridge Tce, and an upgrade of Harbour City Funeral Home in Kilbirnie.

Mr Pinfold would not disclose the price he paid for the business.

The Wellington office of Hartner is perceived to be a well-run operation and is not thought to have been a key factor in the demise of Hartner, which was based in Auckland.

Mr Pinfold said the the building market in Wellington was tough but his company had done a lot of spadework on a coupe of upcoming projects. Hartner, owned by Aucklander Wayne Hartner, has debts of $28 million. It owes National Bank $8.5 million, $6.8 million to subcontractors for work done in December and January, and another $8.5 million under "pay-if-and-when-paid" clauses.

Mr Hartner says he is owed more than $13 million by developers.

- NZPA