OUT FOR THE COUNT?

The murky business affairs of embattled property developer Dave Henderson have become a little clearer over the past 48 hours.

Hendo has effectively been caught in a pincer-like movement from two recievers - BDO Spicers and Price Waterhouse.

As I mentioned in my last post on Hendo the locks were changed on his all South of Lichfield bars late last week.

However it was not another Hendo ploy to keep out of reach of his numerous creditors. The Press has reported that Price Waterhouse receiver Malcolm Hollis took possession of the bars Yellow Cross, Fat Eddie's, and Cleaners Only and the Fish & Chip Shop restaurant in SOL Square last Thursday afternoon.

Information though has been hard to come by as the staff in the various bars were sworn to secrecy. However rumours spread that something was going down on SOL.

Normally not short of a diatribe or two, Hendo has remained conspicuously silent about the recent developments with his SOL bars.

Another Hendo company, Tuam Ventures, was put into receivership last week.

Tuam Ventures owned one of the buildings on SOL Square. The building houses half Hendo's SOL Square bars between Tuam and Lichfield Street in Christchurch. The property fronts Tuam Street and takes up about half of the SOL Square development.

The BNZ was the principally lender but it declined to renew the mortgage.

BDO Spicers partner Stephen Tubbs was last week appointed receiver over Tuam Ventures.

It will be the task of Tubbs to ready the building for sale.

So it is seemingly all coming apart for Hendo, who has managed to hang on until now.

Chris Hutching in the National Business Review explains:

'The strategic significance of the receivership for Mr Henderson is that until now he has been able to control the cashflow from the building, paying interest-only on the BNZ mortgage and using the rest of the money from the bars and restaurants to keep his operations going and to satisfy creditors.'

So, in a space of a few short days, Hendo has lost both these sources of desperately needed funds.

Meanwhile the Inland Revenue has applied to liquidate Henderson's hospitality company Atlas Food and Beverage in an action that will be heard in the High Court next Monday.

The idea that he will buy back the five city properties he sold to the Christchurch City Council now looks extremely unlikely.

The man who Mayor Sideshow Bob Parker labelled a 'urban visiobary' looks like he could well be out for the count this time.