Perry wins travel reprieve after court case delayed

By CHRIS DANIELS

US hedge fund billionaire Richard C. Perry has been given a reprieve from being forced to travel to New Zealand next week.

The High Court at Auckland last week told Perry that if he wanted to give evidence in a case brought by corporate raider Guinness Peat Group, he would have to do it in person, not via a New York video link.

GPG lawyer Rick Shera said yesterday that the case, due to have begun next Tuesday had now been delayed.

What was originally set down for a five-day hearing now looked like it may take at least 10 days.

It may now not take place until late November or early December at the earliest.

The rival sides may also need to attend a second hearing, if Perry is found to have breached the disclosure rules surrounding its Rubicon share purchase.

GPG says Perry disguised a 16 per cent stake in Rubicon. It argues that Perry should be forced by the court to forfeit its stake, with its share cancelled, thereby increasing the value of all the other Rubicon shares on issue.

Perry is likely to argue that any breach was minor, and would not justify such a harsh penalty.

Despite being widely known in New Zealand business circles that Perry had an interest in Rubicon, it did not disclose this officially.

No mention is made of Perry being a shareholder in the Rubicon annual report.

GPG told the High Court at Auckland earlier this month that Rubicon chief executive Luke Moriarty, in numerous briefings to his board of directors, referred to Perry as being the company's second biggest shareholder.

GPG is in the throes of launching a takeover offer to take its 19.9 per cent Rubicon stake to just over 50 per cent.

By gaining control of Rubicon it gains access to two seats on the board of Fletcher Challenge Forests, as Rubicon holds 18 per cent of all its shares.

GPG director Tony Gibbs says he has a grand plan for the consolidation of the New Zealand forestry industry. He used the GPG stake in Rubicon to campaign against the recent plan by Fletcher to buy the $1.5 billion Central North Island Forest partnership, now in receivership.