Update: Mill jobs confirmed as lost

Tachikawa jobs gone

Rotorua timber mill Tachikawa Forest Products has terminated the jobs of their 130 employees today.

The employees were given their termination notices at a meeting at Huranga Te Rangi Marae, Ngapuna this morning.

Brendon Gibson and Grant Graham of KordaMentha, the receivers of Tachikawa Forest Products (NZ) Ltd, have confirmed in a statement they have started actively marketing the company's business and assets for sale.

"We expect the sale process will attract interest from New Zealand and overseas, and we invite anyone who wants to explore the opportunity to register their interest with us," Mr Gibson said.

The receivers have also confirmed today that together with the company's management they have completed an assessment of the prospects to recommence trading.

"The company ceased trading before we were appointed as receivers. We have worked with the company's management to assess what would be required to restart processing and whether the company would be profitable.

"We and management have now formed the view that it would not be possible to trade profitably during the receivership. In addition, it would be difficult to reinstate the customer and supplier relationships that were disrupted when trading ceased prior to our appointment," said Mr Gibson.

As a consequence, the company's employees have been advised that it will not be possible to provide them with work during the receivership and the receivers will now focus on realising the company's assets.

Employees have a statutory entitlement to be paid what they are owed in priority to other creditors, from the proceeds of stock and book debts, up to a maximum amount of $20,340 (before tax) per person.

In parallel to the sale process for the company's business and assets, the receivers have implemented a process to realise the company's stock and book debts as efficiently as possible.

"This is a very difficult time for employees. We have a team working on selling the company's stock and collecting book debts so we can determine how much is available to pay employees, and make those payments as quickly as possible. We hope to be in a position to provide employees with further information by mid-November," Mr Gibson said.

Mr Koji Tachikawa, the CEO and shareholder of the company, advised that he was disappointed with the current situation but believed that, in the circumstances, the receivers did not have any other option but to keep the mill closed.