Distribution to hotel creditors considered ‘unlikely'
Liquidators appointed to a luxury Queenstown hotel consider a distribution to creditors is "unlikely".
In their first report into Ex TCHL, previously The Carlin Hotel Ltd, and Ex CHPML, previously Carlin Hotel Property Management Ltd, PricewaterhouseCoopers NZ's Judith Shields and Malcolm Hollis said they were finalising their review of the bank statements of the companies.
"Should we identify any avenues for recovery, we will advise on this in our next report."
The late Kevin Carlin developed The Carlin, comprising nine units and six carparks, along with a restaurant,costing about $30 million, on Hallenstein St.
Opening in March, 2022, six units and four carparks were owned by a related company, Queenstown Views Villas (QVV).
The rest were owned by secured creditor Pablo Pty Ltd.
Mr Carlin died suddenly, of natural causes, in December, 2023 — about two months later, Pablo placed Ex CHPML and QVV into receivership.
At the time, the companies' combined debt was about $45 million, $40m of which was owed to Pablo.
Last July, Ex TCHL — which held the intellectual property for the hotel — was placed in receivership by Pablo, which was owed about $12.5m.
Ex CHPML and Ex TCHL were placed into liquidation last September.
The liquidators report, for the six months to March 23, said receivers continued the operation of the hotel, pending the initiation of a sales process — Pablo purchased The Carlin last October. By November the debt had dropped to $29.5m.
But because the receivers had been trading the hotel, there were no accounts receivable for the liquidators to collect, their report said.
Because there were no realisations in the liquidation of Ex TCHL, no fees had been taken.
Regarding Ex CHMPL, at March 23 cash at bank totalled $9500.
Expenses over the reporting period totalled were $12,057; liquidators remuneration and expenses totalled $10,500 and the balance was attributed to GST on payments.
Receipts totalled $21,575, $20,000 of that was shareholder funding, and $1575 from "GST clearing account".
Last month, Mountain Scene reported receivers appointed to Ex TCHL are establishing the "security position" of a vehicle, understood to be a baby blue 2014 Bentley Mulsanne, which may be subject to a finance lease.
tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz
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Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for the New Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003. To sign up to hisweekly newsletter, click on your user profile at and select 'My newsletters'. For a step-by-step guide, click here. If you have a burning question about the quirks or intricacies of economics send it to or leave a message in the comments section.
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10-08-2025
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Under the soon-to-be-replaced fuel tax system, you pay less if your vehicle is efficient. Illustration / AI generated Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Under the soon-to-be-replaced fuel tax system, you pay less if your vehicle is efficient. Illustration / AI generated Transport Minister Chris Bishop last week announced 'the biggest change to how we fund our roading network in 50 years'. Herald data editor Chris Knox explains the change and what it could mean for you. The Government has announced it's preparing to stop funding roads from fuel taxes - and switch to road user charges in 2027. What could this mean for you? Currently, for every litre of petrol you put in your car you pay 70.024 cents into the National Land Transport Fund - used to build and maintain our roads. Or, if you own a diesel or electric car you pay into the fund via road user charges, because electric cars don't fill at the pump and the price of diesel doesn't include a 70c per litre charge. The 70c per litre fuel tax is also subject to GST so switching to road user charges will remove 80.53 cents per litre from the current cost of petrol. Your petrol will be cheaper.
