Plans by the Eastern Bay Energy Trust to acquire all the listed power company Horizon Energy could be at risk, after legal action halted its $22 million takeover bid.
An offer for the remaining 23% of Horizon which the trust currently does not own, has been shelved and it now faces a wait of several months for a High Court ruling on whether it can try again.
The offer was grounded when Te Mana o Ngati Rangitihi, an iwi based in a Matata, sought an interim injunction complaining that the trust had provided its consumer-beneficiaries with inadequate information.
Energy Trust chairman David Bulley says it has now decided to go to the High Court to clarify a new issue raised by the iwi and to seek clarification of the trust deed.
Meanwhile, the process is stalled. Mr Bulley says some of the factors currently favouring the bid, may no longer be favourable when the legal issues are settled.
