There was encouragement for the enigmatic investor George Kerr during the year as shares in his 80%-owned Pyne Gould Corporation showed signs of a pickup.
PGC’s main asset is a stake in Cayman-domiciled Torchlight, managed by Mr Kerr, whose holdings include real estate at Hanley Farm near Queenstown.
However, although the real estate is starting to generate cash, litigation has taken its toll. PGC’s half-year report noted Torchlight was hit by a court-ordered payment of £20.5 million to interests associated with wealthy Australian investor John Grill – the outcome of a long-running lawsuit over Mr Grill’s lending to Torchlight.
The Grill case attracted some publicity to the media-shy Mr Kerr but his unusual dispute with a group of Torchlight investors in the Caymans court earned him feature-length exposure in Australia after an encounter with Sydney Morning Herald reporter James Chessell in London.
Mr Chessell reported Mr Kerr had spent millions fighting the case in which investors wanted to oust Mr Kerr from Torchlight’s management and wind up the fund, and had personally attended every day of court hearings in the Cayman Islands.
Those hearings concluded in December but, before judgment was issued, PGC announced a settlement had been reached.
Under the deal Mr Kerr agreed that the investors – ACC, Crown Asset Management and Australian fund manager Aurora – could redeem their holdings in Torchlight for $A25.5 million.
With the payout of the three shareholders PGC’s interests in Torchlight increased from 44.2% to 70.4%.
As well as his corporate interests, Mr Kerr owns property including more than 90ha of land near the picturesque New Chums beach on the Coromandel and development land at Glencoe Road near Queenstown.
Interests associated with Mr Kerr own a substantial house near Lake Hayes, Queenstown.
Mr Kerr is the great great grandson of Frederick H Pyne, who founded Pyne Gould Corp predecessor Pyne & Co in 1887.
Before taking over Pyne Gould Corp, between 1996 and 2001 Mr Kerr was a shareholder and investment director of financial advisory group Sterling Grace Portfolio Management, which traded as Spicers. Mr Kerr reportedly made $30 million when Spicers was sold to AXA in 2001 for $220 million.