Andrew Grenfell and William Black of McGrathNicol were today appointed Receivers and Managers (“Receivers”) of GEON Group New Zealand Ltd (“GEON”) and related New Zealand entities by a secured creditor.

The appointment occurred after the Directors of GEON appointed voluntary administrators. Control of GEON’s businesses and assets now rests with the Receivers.

Messrs Grenfell and Black said the Receivers were working swiftly to stabilise GEON’s operations and assess each of its business units while concurrently running an accelerated sale process for GEON’s business and assets.

”We have begun the process of stabilising GEON’s operations with the support of key stakeholders, including GEON equity holders KKR and Allegro. This will facilitate a thorough assessment of each of GEON’s business units’ financial position,” they said.

The Receivers have also already commenced a sale process for GEON’s businesses and assets and have received an Expression of Interest from one party and held discussions with others.

Messrs Grenfell and Black said the Receivers were liaising with employees, unions, customers and suppliers to ensure minimal disruption to operations.

About McGrathNicol:

McGrathNicol is an independent advisory firm specialising in Corporate Advisory, Forensic, Transaction Services and Corporate Recovery. We are a market leader in Australia and New Zealand, with more than 30 Partners and 300 people across the region.

Our firm was founded by a group of Partners and staff from Big 4 accounting firms who believed a high quality boutique firm could thrive when freed of audit independence constraints. Since then, McGrathNicol has grown strongly. We have earned a reputation for achieving innovative, high quality results by providing technical excellence, responsive advice and sound execution capability.

NZAX-listed auto loan provider GFNZ Group Ltd (Geneva) announced that the moratorium repayment of $4.9 million due on 31 March, will be paid on the 28^th February, four weeks ahead of schedule. This announcement maintains Geneva’s record of early repayment, following the early repayments of the September 2010, March 2011, September 2011, March 2012 and September 12 scheduled debenture principal repayments.

This repayment is being made under resolution 1.4(b) of the interest bearing repayment plan to repay moratorium debenture holders and BOSIAL early, either in full or in part on a pro rata basis.

Inclusive of this payment, Geneva Finance has repaid $139.0 million of investor principal and interest payments since the company entered moratorium in November 2007 owing a net $132.4 million to investors. These repayments are inclusive of interest payments to investors (including the company’s bankers) of $40.6 million, at a weighted average interest rate of 10.7%, and principal repayments to public debenture holders totaling $70.7 million.

This early repayment follows on from a number of successful funding initiatives including:

• The  placement of  $5.3 million of new business receivables ($3.3m in August 12 and $2.0m in January 13) into “Prime Asset Trust Limited” a  scheme, that utilised this security to raise a total of $4.6m million of new funding.
• The raising of $2.8m of new equity in two tranches with the first being February 2012 and the second in November 2012.

Funding from these sources has been supplemented with positive operating cash flows and it is the combined impact of these initiatives that has put the business in position to maintain its track record of paying investors ahead of schedule.

Geneva Managing Director David O’Connell says, “It is pleasing to be in a position to continue to repay investors ahead of schedule but we are operating in a difficult financial environment and if we are to be able to continue to achieve our goals it is essential that we maintain our focus on the key challenges ahead of us.”

Overview

The re emergence of Geneva from Moratorium in November 2007, has been built around the achievement of a series of milestones, with each being achieved before progressing to the next objective. These milestones fall into three stages:

1.  Firstly, from November 2007 through to January 2012, the focus was on repositioning the business model to a lower risk market segment, cost reduction, improving distribution systems for the company’s products, broaden the scope of the business with the acquisition of an insurance operation and a debt collection business to supplement the core lending activities and most importantly the repayment of investor debt.
2. Secondly, From January 12 the focus moved to improving the company’s equity position and as at the end of November 2012, Geneva had raised new equity of $2.8m, and secured a cornerstone shareholder, Federal Pacific Group Limited who now hold a 36% stake in the company.
3. Thirdly building on the above, we are now looking to expand the core business to create shareholder value. Core to this challenge, is attracting new funding at affordable rates. With this in mind on the 11th February 2013, Geneva announced it would supplement the funding initiates referred to above with the issue of this prospectus.

ends

About Geneva

Geneva is a New Zealand-owned finance company that provides finance and financial services to the consumer credit and small to medium business markets. Geneva commenced business on 7 October 2002. Geneva’s loans are originated through three distribution channels (Direct, Broker and Dealer), processed by the central sales desk then administered through a national operations centre located at Mt Wellington, Auckland.

The company borrows money by the issue of debenture stock. It also has a banking facility with BOS International (Australia) Limited.

Geneva (GFL) is listed on the NZAX. There are 224,698,631 issued shares held by 2,629 investors.

About Federal Pacific

FedPac’s operations throughout the Pacific region include investments in Banking, Personal and Business Finance, Money Transfer and Foreign Exchange Trading. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

NZAX-listed auto loan provider GFNZ Group Ltd (Geneva) having successfully placed $1.2m of ordinary shares to Federal Pacific Group Limited (FedPac) in March 2012, advises that its 1:4 rights issue, raising a further $1.5million of equity has settled.

This equity placement, further strengthens Geneva’s balance sheet and represents another milestone in the company’s development, which over the last four years, has seen Geneva work hard to reposition and rebuild its operations. Other significant milestones include:

Repayment of more than $133.3m of debt funding to investors (including interest of 11.0% per annum to public debenture holders);

• Reduced group operating costs, since November 07, by more than $29m per annum;
• Acquisition of the Quest Insurance and Stellar debt collection operations to complement core financing activities;
• Implementation of online internet-based scorecards and loan application systems for introducers;
• Restructure of its operations to allow the new business model to focus on a market segment that offers attractive yields that carry considerably less risk.

Geneva Managing Director David O’Connell says: “The $1.2m placement in March 2012, and the $1.5m raised under this issue have collectively increased Geneva’s net shareholders funds by 28%. This is another significant step forward. It will assist the company source the new funding lines, core to expanding the new business model while maintaining our scheduled debt repayment program.”

Under the rights issue Geneva has issued a further 56.2 million ordinary shares, of which 357 small shareholders were allocated 6.6m on the 19^th November. FedPac were allocated the remaining 49.6m shares today, raising it’s total stake in Geneva to 33.7%.

Each of the shareholders (including FedPac) who acquired shares under the rights issue, has also been allocated two options (for every three shares acquired) to subscribe for new shares, at 8.00 cents per share within a 30 day period commencing three years after their allocation date.

The rights issue and FedPac’s underwrite agreement were approved at the shareholders meeting held on 6^th November 2012.

ends

About Geneva

Geneva is a New Zealand-owned finance company that provides finance and financial services to the consumer credit and small to medium business markets. Geneva commenced business on 7 October 2002. Geneva’s loans are originated through three distribution channels (Direct, Broker and Dealer), processed by the central sales desk then administered through a national operations centre located at Mt Wellington, Auckland.

The company borrows money by the issue of debenture stock. It also has a banking facility with BOS International (Australia) Limited.

Geneva (GFL) is listed on the NZAX. Following the rights issue, there are 280,872,249 issued shares held by 2,629 investors.

About Federal Pacific

FedPac’s operations throughout the Pacific region include investments in Banking, Personal and Business Finance, Money Transfer and Foreign Exchange Trading. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

30th March 2012

GFNZ Group Limited (previously known as Geneva Finance Limited) announces Investor’s principal repayment due 31st March 2012 will be paid out today.

Following on from the early repayment of the September 10 and March 11 and S

eptember 2011 scheduled debenture principal repayments, the Geneva Board and Management are pleased to announce that the Company is now in a position to repay the 31st March 2012 Debenture Holders principal of $2.5m and the scheduled BOS International (Australia) Ltd (BOSIAL) facility reduction of $2.5m.

This repayment is being made early as a result of positive cash position of the Group and the right under Resolution 1.4(b) of the Interest Bearing Repayment Plan to repay Moratorium Debenture holders and BOSIAL early, either in full or in part on a pro rata basis.

Inclusive of this payment, Geneva Finance has repaid $126.7m of investor principal and interest payments since the Company entered moratorium in November 2007 owing a net $132.4m to investors. These repayments are inclusive of interest payments to investors (including the company’s bankers) of $38.5m at an average interest rate of 10.7% and principal repayments to public debenture holders totaling $64.3m.

NZAX-listed auto loan provider GFNZ Group Ltd (Geneva) has announced the successful placement of 45 million additional ordinary shares to Federal Pacific Group Limited (FedPac), a financial services firm operating throughout the Pacific region. FedPac will become a cornerstone shareholder and has also arranged additional funding lines for Geneva to enable the group to expand its loan book growth and assist the ongoing refinancing of existing funders via a capital-insured professional investor scheme.

The ordinary share placement at 2.75 cents per share will result in FedPac taking a 19.9% stake in Geneva. As part of the agreement with Fed Pac, Geneva has also undertaken, subsequent to the placement, to make an offer of a pro rata rights issue to all shareholders, including Fed Pac, at the placement price of 2.75 cents per share.

Over the past four years Geneva has worked hard to reposition and rebuild its operations. Significant milestones include:

• Repayment of more than $121m of debt funding to investors (including interest of 11.0% per annum to public debenture holders);
• Reduced operating costs by more than $25m per annum;
• Acquisition of the Quest Insurance and Stellar debt collection operations to complement core financing activities;
• Implementation of online internet-based scorecards and loan application systems for introducers;
• Restructure of its operations to allow the new business model to focus on a market segment that offers attractive yields that carry considerably less risk.

Geneva Managing Director David O’Connell says: “We see this transaction as a significant and positive development for the group. Fed Pac’s support will enable us to fast-track the new business model expansion while maintaining our scheduled debt repayment program. Geneva is operating in a market that has seen many competitors fall away, and we see the expansion of the  profitable new business model into this space as the key to  putting the group onto a long term and sustainable, profitable platform.”
ends
About Geneva
Geneva is a New Zealand-owned finance company that provides finance and financial services to the consumer credit and small to medium business markets. Geneva commenced business on 7 October 2002. Geneva’s loans are originated through three distribution channels (Direct, Broker and Dealer), processed by the central sales desk then administered through a national operations centre located at Mt Wellington, Auckland.
The company borrows money by the issue of debenture stock. It also has a banking facility with BOS International (Australia) Limited.Geneva (GFL) is listed on the NZAX. There are 179,759,631 issued shares held by 2,651 investors.

About Federal Pacific

FedPac’s operations throughout the Pacific region include investments in Banking, Personal and Business Finance, Money Transfer and Foreign Exchange Trading. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

For further information:

Alexander Communications
Kate Alexander
+64 (0)27 244 6094
kate@alexandercomms.co.nz

The Palms Shopping Centre in Shirley will remain closed today, Saturday 24 December following yesterday’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.

Structural engineers are continuing to assess the building to ensure that it is safe prior to reopening. The safety and wellbeing of our retailers, staff and customers is our main priority.

Customers are asked to obtain updates on the centre via The Palms Shopping Centre Facebook page and website.

We realise that it is unfortunate that the centre is unable to open on Christmas Eve nevertheless The Palms Shopping Centre Management Team and retailers wish all their customers a merry and safe Christmas.

Having announced his resignation as CEO of Wellington Cricket in September, former New Zealand cricket international Gavin Larsen is now able to reveal what he is planning to do next – go to HELL.

It’s not as bad as it sounds. His family will be with him. With his wife Karen and two of their three children, Corey (18) and Vanessa (16), Mr Larsen is taking over the HELL Pizza store in Wellington’s Newlands, the family’s home suburb.

Though their first day isn’t until 26 October, HELL Newlands is already a family business of sorts. Corey, recently back from a season of league cricket in the UK, previously worked there as a delivery driver, and Vanessa has served as front-of-house for the past year.

Mr Larsen says the transition from sport to business came about naturally. “We’ve been involved in small business before, having owned and run Larsen Sportswear for about eight years in the late 1990s / early 2000s. I enjoyed the dynamics of that and wanted to get back into it. And with Wellington Cricket, as CEO you need to cover all the business bases, from marketing and HR to the financial side, and ideally you need that breadth of skill-set and experience to pick up and grow a small business.”

The HELL connection was equally organic, with the Wellington-bred cult company being one Mr Larsen has long admired. “I got to know the owners Stu [McMullin] and Callum [Davies] when HELL came on board last year as sponsor of the Wellington Firebirds Twenty20 cricket team. I was impressed with their attitude to the sponsorship and with their dedication and commitment to moving the brand forward. It’s a fun and cheeky company to get involved in.”

Visitors to the store are likely to see Mr Larsen in action. In his view, owning a business means understanding all aspects of it, and getting “down and dirty” in every part of HELL Newlands alongside his experienced staff, who he inherited from the previous owner and says he is lucky to have.

Important too is quality control, including the sampling of all new products: for the record, the self-described “meat man” is a fan of the bestselling Lust (pepperoni, salami, ham, bacon and cabanossi), and Cursed (ham, gherkins, chicken, bacon and smoked cheddar), and reports that he recently learned how to make a tasty Mordor (smoky BBQ sauce, pepperoni, chicken, capsicum and bacon) to pleasing effect.

Will he miss cricket? “Cricket and sport are in my blood. With Cricket Wellington it simply felt the right time to move on – structurally it’s in great shape and it was a good time for a new leadership voice. I’d be surprised though if downstream if I wasn’t back involved in cricket in some way. But we’re taking it all one step at a time. Karen and I want to throw ourselves into the venture wholeheartedly and enjoy the business as a family. We hope to make a success, then we’ll see what transpires.”

23 June 2011 – Following detailed structural inspections of The Palms Shopping Centre, our consultant engineers have confirmed that the building performed well during the 13 June earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.

Further damage was sustained in a few areas, which will be repaired. The north entrance (near Countdown), which was due to open at the end of June requires attention. The recently-fixed guttering will undergo a new round of repairs to ensure the building is watertight. The travelators and newly-replaced tiling also require some repairs.

The Palms Shopping Centre manager Keryn Ward says, “We would like to reassure the public that while we have been dealt further delays and there is some work to be done, we will be reopening as soon as possible.

“We hope to have an update on our rescheduled opening dates in the near future, once we have a clearer picture of the time required to remedy the further damage.”

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Palms-Shopping-Centre/144755025564699

www.thepalms.co.nz

ends

20 June, 4.19pm. The Palms Shopping Centre has announced that following the recent series of severe aftershocks, the planned 30 June opening of the centre’s first phase is no longer possible.

This means the reopening plan to see the centre open in stages over the next few months is now delayed by at least a month.

Preliminary inspections have been completed, with further detailed structural inspections to be carried out over the next two week period to determine if any works are required and to confirm new phased reopening dates.

The Palms Shopping Centre manager Keryn Ward says, “As always, our concern is for the safety and well-being of our retailers, customers and staff. Despite everyone’s best efforts and the significant progress made, our reopening dates will be rescheduled. We will continue to update everyone via media and The Palms Facebook page and website.”

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Palms-Shopping-Centre/144755025564699

www.thepalms.co.nz

ends

At a time when the nation’s attention is focused on recreating the built environment of our second-largest city, a new enterprise is launching with two significant and potentially contributory new initiatives: New Zealand’s first nationwide accessibility programme, Be. Accessible, and the first nationwide disability leadership programme of its kind, Be. Leadership.

At its launch event at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Friday 6 May, Be. Institute will formally present the two programmes and outline the vision for what the institute, through its initiatives and partnerships, can do to foster accessibility and enable a 100% accessible society for all New Zealanders.

The mission is social change: to improve the accessibility of the physical environment, enable better access to information, promote the inclusion and leadership of disabled people in employment and the community, and change social attitudes and behaviours.

In many respects, the timing of the launch is optimal. One Be. Institute project, the Be. Test Match, will be rolled out through the Be. Accreditation programme (part of Be. Accessible) to the 12 New Zealand cities hosting Rugby World Cup 2011.

In the first phase, the Be. Assessors will visit key locations in each of the 12 cities and assess stadia, fan zones, i-SITES and other relevant locations such as hotels.

However, the organization’s aims for its programmes reach beyond this sporting event. By the end of May, Be. Accessible will have trained 40 Be. Assessors, who will be equipped with the tools and know-how to perform holistic assessments of the aforementioned sites, and thousands of others over time.

They will be able to cover the whole accessibility journey, asking questions like: how accessible is the organisation’s website?; what is the level of customer service?; how accessible is the building entrance, interior and products?; and are the business / organization’s marketing materials accessible to all people?

Be. Institute is led by chief executive Minnie Baragwanath, who before founding Be. Institute worked for 10 years in the disability sector, advising to the former Auckland City Council. She has brought together the Auckland Council, the Auckland University of Technology and the Auckland District Health Board to be founding partners of the Be. Institute.

Since it was formed in early 2011, Be. Institute has developed a working partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, and MP Tariana Turia will be attending the launch event, along with 200 other VIPs and contributors.

Ms Baragwanath says, “In launching the Be. Institute we are mindful of the importance of recognizing what is already being done. We have made great progress as a nation – however, there is more we need to do to create a 100% accessible country. New Zealanders are by nature inclusive and socially aware, and we are seeking to build on this through specific practices in our two programmes. Our view is that if we get it right for disabled people, we get it right for all people.”

Be. Accessible involves an accreditation framework and a communications campaign to inspire and enable a 100% accessible society. Be. Leadership, the first leadership programme of its kind in New Zealand, invites 20 emerging leaders to participate in a 10-month journey to become the best leader they can be.

Any business can book an accessibility assessment from a Be. Assessor and learn how they can change their practices or structure to make their organization more accessible. They need not be affiliated with RWC 2011 to do this.

Fact Sheet

• The Be. Institute launch event:
  • Date: Friday 6 May 2011
  • Time: 7pm – 10pm
  • Venue: Auckland War Memorial Museum
  • Dress: Glamorous and authentic
• The Be. Institute was founded in 2011 through a partnership between the Auckland Council, the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the Auckland District Health Board;
• It is a social enterprise with the purpose of inspiring and enabling accessibility through innovation and leadership;
• The problem New Zealand faces is that 20% of the population doesn’t get full access to society, and even if employment is possible, people with disabilities earn less on average that those without;
• Founding trustees of the Be. Institute include John Allen (CEO of MFAT and Chair of the Employers Disability Network) and Mark Bagshaw, and the current chief executive is Minnie Baragwanath;
• The Institute’s two initiatives are Be. Accessible and Be. Leadership, which are designed to collectively achieve 100% accessibility for all New Zealanders;
• There are three interdependent pillars – social, physical and personal – necessary for a truly accessible society;
• The Be. Institute’s philosophy is around inclusion – everyone is welcome to participate – and the principle that in order to create a world in which we can all Be., we need to think about our expectations of disabled people, and consider the value of disabled people as leaders and not just recipients of charity;
• The vision and mission of Be. – can we talk about the importance of the Be. Accessble programme.
• One of the first social change programmes to inspire business, community, govt to recognise that we all play a part in creating an accessible world;
• The Be. Institute has coined a new term – the ‘Access Customer’ – which may include any of the following:
  • An older person (the baby- boomer)
  • A parent pushing a stroller
  • Someone with a hearing or vision impairment
  • A person with a mental health impairment
  • A person who uses a wheelchair
• Launch attendee Tariana Turia is co-leader of the Maori Party and the member for Te tai Hauauru, Minister for Disability Issues and the Community and Voluntary Sectors, and Associate Minister of Social Development and Health;
• Launch attendee Rodney Hide is leader of the Act Party and the member for Epsom, Minister of Local Government and Regulatory Reform, and Associate Minister of Education;
• Between 660,000 and 730,000 people in New Zealand have a disability, and a total of 20% of Kiwis report a disability;
• Half of people 65+ have a disability, and by 2030 25% of Kiwis will be aged 65+;
• 186,340 people with a disability could be working;
• The limited accessibility for people with a disability means that 20% of Kiwis are excluded from fully participating in everyday activities;
• With improved accessibility, businesses could increase by 20% more customers;
• Sign Language is the third official language of New Zealand;
• The welfare cost is $2.1 billion per annum and the opportunity cost an estimated $11.7 billion per annum;
• El Du Pont de Nemours & Co conducted a study of 1,000 workers with disabilities, with results showing:
  • 81% of workers with disabilities rated better than average in job performance;
  • 86% of workers with disabilities rated above average in attendance;
  • 98% of workers with disabilities rated average or better than average in safety with;
  • No increase in compensation costs.

Sources:

Statistics New Zealand, 2006
Office for Disability, 2008

Be.ready – The toolkit for business
Innov8 Consulting Group Disability Statistics Chart

For further information:

Dwayne Alexander

Alexander Communications

+64 (0)21 324463

dwayne@alexandercomms.co.nz