Blue Chip boss Mark Bryers has been bankrupted, but not without a fight from his lawyer.

Bryers was bankrupted at the High Court at Auckland yesterday.

The businessman, in debt to the tune of $173,826,300, did not travel from his rented residence in Sydney for the hearing.

He was defended by lawyer Aaron Nicholls in the proceeding brought by Cook Nelson St Leasehold (owed $1.94 million).

Creditors in support of the bankruptcy included GE Finance (owed more than $400,000), Bridgecorp (owed more than $47 million), and Westpac (owed more than $11 million).

The total value owed by the creditors seeking Bryers’ bankruptcy was about $85 million.

Mr Nicholls applied to have the proceedings delayed by one month to give creditors more time to consider an offer made by Bryers.

Filed only yesterday morning, that offer would have involved Bryers paying the creditors $1.2 million over three years. That money was to be advanced to him by Balboa PM Services PTY. (A statement made by Bryers said he had only $300 in a bank account and no assets.)

But the offer was rejected by the majority of creditors. (Creditor Northern Crest Investments, formerly part of the Blue Chip group, supported it.)

Mr Nicholls argued the proposal was rejected out of vindictiveness and spite.

“It’s fair to say he’s hated,” he said, speaking of his client.

“And the assemblage of creditors in this room right now is more a reflection of that than proper consideration of the proposal… It’s not a commercial decision, it’s an emotional decision.”

Lawyer for Cook Nelson Daniel Grove said the prospect of Bryers being able to pay up was “quite laughable”.

“Mr Bryer’s assets are his clothes, furniture and a set of golf clubs,” he remarked.

Associate Judge Michael Robinson rejected that application and, because there were not enough creditors in support of Bryers’ offer, bankrupted him.