24 Jun 2011

Crafar family reaches agreement with receivers

2:01 pm on 24 June 2011

A legal adviser for the Crafar family says the family is relieved to have reached a settlement with the receivers of its 16 North Island farms.

The farms were put into receivership in 2009 with debts of more than $200 million.

Receivers KordaMentha have been trying to evict the family from three houses on two of the farms at Reporoa.

Crafar family members resisted, saying they had tenancy agreements with their companies giving them the right to stay on the farms.

The family's legal adviser, Vinay Deobhaka, says the terms of the settlement are confidential but family members are very relieved legal action to evict them has been dropped.

Mr Deobhaka says the family is still trying to raise money to take the farms out of receivership.

The Overseas Investment Office (OIO) is assessing an application by Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin Group to buy the 16 farms that are in receivership.

KordaMentha accepted its offer after the OIO and the Government declined an application from another Chinese company, Natural Dairy.