‘Hopelessly insolvent’ Ruapehu Alpine Lifts officially put into liquidation

Operator of the Tūroa and Whakapapa ski fields officially put into liquidation. Photo / Supplied

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the operator of the Tūroa and Whakapapa ski fields, has officially been put into liquidation.

The order was made in the High Court at Auckland before Justice Christine Grice.

Wednesday’s hearing comes after a watershed meeting on Tuesday where major creditors, including the Government, ski pass owners and ANZ Bank, voted on one of three options presented to salvage the commercial operations of the fields.

Voting

For an option to go through, 50 per cent of creditors needed to vote in agreement by number, but 75 per cent by the value of their debts.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) moved into voluntary administration owing more than $40 million last October after being impacted by poor seasonal conditions and pandemic closures over the past few years.

The creditors were presented with options by administrators John Fisk and Richard Nacey of PwC, with the preferred option, to sell both Ruapehu hills for $1 to bidders Whakapapa Holdings, financed by private equity group the South Island Office, and Pure Tūroa, backed by developers Cam Robertson and Greg Hickman.

That option didn’t hit the required baseline, reaching 44.2 per cent by number but 93.2 per cent by dollar value.

Another option, a deed of company arrangement proposed by the Ruapehu Skifields Stakeholders Association (RSSA), was the most popular with ski pass holders, reaching 71.2 per cent by number but only 8.6 per cent by dollar value with other major creditors, including ANZ and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

After Tuesday’s meeting, the company was handed back to its directors.

Most responsible option

No opposition to the liquidation was made.

Bell Gully’s David Friar, who was acting for the company, told the court it was rare for a company to apply to the court to liquidate itself.

However, given the result of Tuesday’s meeting, liquidation was the most responsible option for the directors.

That was because RAL was “hopelessly insolvent” and “had no money to pay its debts”, Friar said.

Administrators Fisk and Nacey were appointed liquidators.

Friar said to have anyone else appointed would be “a waste of expense” given the pair’s knowledge of the company gained through the administration.