First time poster so please be patient with me. Synlait have been a little economical with their time line data. Heres a somewhat fuller and more informative set of facts.
·6 August 1998, and 14 September 2000,200 year covenants were placed by deed on Pokeno land. The lands mayonly be used for the purpose of grazing and/or lifestyle farming which use may include the erection of implement sheds and/or storage sheds
·26 July 2013 covenanted Pokeno land split into three (this is land that can only be used for purposes listed in covenant ie grazing
·May 2017 Stonehill Trusteesbuy Pokeno land
·15 August 2017 Stonehill settlePokeno land purchase
·Feb2018 Stonehill enter conditional agreement to sell Pokeno land to Synlait
·27February. Synlait announce purchase to market. They mention deal is conditional but fail to mention Covenants while they do mention subject to OIO approval. (Approximately a quarter of the land is subject to the covenants. Both parties know of covenants)
·A little after Feb 2018 Stonehill attempt to negotiate release of covenants with neighbours, Havelock Bluff ltd – the owners of land who benefit by covenants on Stonehill / SML land. Negotiations fail Synlait do not advise market of this
·March 2018 Synlait get resourceconsent to do earthworks on Pokeno land
·2 May 2018 . Mr Ye buys Pokeno land fromHavelock Bluff Ltd which has beneficial covenants attached
·2 May 2018 Plan Change 21 saw Pokenoland zoning change. It took into account the aggregate extraction and processing zone on land owned by Mr Ye / NZIPL
·Alittle after May 2018 Stonehill attempt to negotiate release of covenants with Mr Ye – the new owner of land who benefit by covenants on Stonehill / SML land. Negotiations fail. Synlait do not advise market of this.
·May 2018 Synlait get resource consent to build factory on Pokeno land. Synlait begin construction of milk treatment plant
·25 May 2018 Stonehill lodge application in High Court to get covenants removed
·19 June 2018 NZ IndustrialProperties Ltd write demanding that STL require that all works in breach of thecovenants cease and advising that NZIPL would be opposing STL’s originatingapplication. Stonehill did not respond. Synlait do not advise market of this.
·20 June 2018, Synlait stated that its initial capital investment in the dairy factory was estimated at $250 million, excluding land
·18 July 2018 Waikato District Council notified a proposed new plan. It proposed to rezone the dominant land owned by NZIPL as rural and would allow extractive industry as a discretionary activity. The servient land and the adjoining dominant land owned by Stonehill is proposed to be rezoned heavy industrial.
·(1 August. Ebert Construction,contracted to Tetrapak to build Pokeno plant goes into liquidation)
·(3 August A2M increase shareholding inSML from 9.77% to 17.33%)
·1 October 2018 Mr Ye settles PokenoLand purchase
·20 November 2018 Mr Ye transfersPokeno Land to NZ Industrial Properties Ltd
·13 November 2018 High Court extinguishescovenants in favour of Stonehill
·Shortly after Mr Ye / NZIPL lodgeappeal with Appeal Court. Synlait do not advise market of either of thesedevelopments)
·1 April 2019. Appeal court hearingbegins between Mr Ye / NZIPL and Stonehill. (Synlait do not mention this tomarket)
·9 May 2019. Appeal court finds in MrYe’s favour – reinstating covenants which require part of Synlait land (the bit with the factory on it) to beused for grazing / lifestyle farming purposes.
·21 May 2019 Mr Ye / NZIPL issues anotherCease and Desist to Synlait.
·7 June. Synlait advise market theyhave lodged appeal to Supreme Court. First step is to get leave to hear Appeal.(this appears to be not entirely true as Synlait are not a party to the Appealcourt hearing.)
·22 July Director of Operation NeilBetteridge resigns.
·26 August. Synlait advises market ofSupreme Court oral hearing. But fails to tell market oral hearing is not aboutSynlait.
·Today. Synlait still fails to advisemarket of the now known oral hearing date.
(20min delay)
