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A legal scrap between two parties who joined forces to operate Auckland's new Vector Arena hinges on the value of a 45-year contract to run the venue.
Australia's Jacobsen Venue Management and a United States-based receiver are at loggerheads over the investment in a company established to operate the 12,000-seat stadium, which opened four months ago.
Quay Park Arena Management (QPAM), was a joint venture between Jacobsen and US company Worldwide Entertainment. Worldwide went into receivership last year.
Receiver Michael Goldberg is taking legal action in New Zealand to determine the value of Worldwide's investment, which he can then try to retrieve. The matter went to a case conference in the High Court at Auckland this week.
Worldwide Entertainment was part of Jack Utsick's international operations and owned 25 per cent of the QPAM, Goldberg said in a report.
"QPAM is the legal owner of a valuable lease to manage and operate the Vector Arena in Auckland. The remaining 75 per cent interest in QPAM is held by Jacobsen Venue Management and Jacobsen FT. To date, Worldwide has invested approximately US$3.9 million [$4.9 million] in QPAM."
Goldberg said the Jacobsen parties had not provided him with the necessary financial information about Worldwide's investment.
Last year he filed an application in the High Court seeking to enjoin QPAM from holding any board of directors' meetings without financial disclosure to Worldwide. During the proceedings the Jacobsens chose to exercise their rights to buy Worldwide's interest in QPAM. The High Court ruled that this made the Jacobsens the beneficial owner of QPAM, leaving Worldwide with only a legal interest, Goldberg's report says.
In November last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from Worldwide and held that Worldwide had no right to be involved in the control, management or voting of QPAM.
This week's court action was a step in Goldberg's attempts to establish a "fair valuation process" to value Worldwide's interest in the arena.
Goldberg said it was up to the courts to determine how much money he could retrieve. "The value of Worldwide's investment in Quay Park Arena depends heavily on the outcome of the litigation."
US authorities took legal action against Worldwide's Utsick last year, charging him with fraud over concert investments which he offered to 3300 US investors, raising more than US$300 million.
