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Jonkey's rich-prick mates are up to their old asset-stripping tricks again

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« on: November 09, 2011, 11:26:59 am »


If its building is sold, Kirks' days may be numbered

The asset strippers have wandered into Wellington's Kirkcaldie & Stains
department store. Will there be a store left when they have finished?


By DAVID HARGREAVES - The Dominion Post | 9:09AM - Wednesday, 09 November 2011

HIDDEN VALUE: The gross yield for Kirkcaldie shareholders has dropped from around 7 per cent to about 2 per cent, but the company is occupying a building worth $25 million.
HIDDEN VALUE: The gross yield for Kirkcaldie shareholders
has dropped from around 7 per cent to about 2 per cent,
but the company is occupying a building worth $25 million.


IT IS no coincidence that those two veteran investment knights of the realm, Sirs Ron Brierley and Selwyn Cushing, have both ended up prominently positioned on the share register of Wellington institution Kirkcaldie & Stains.

Cushing and his son David hold 17.1 per cent of the company. Brierley has 5.7 per cent. The two knights, ex-Brierley Investments colleagues, may have noticed that Kirkcaldies runs a department store, but Chalkie reckons only in a peripheral way. Mere details. What lured them was the indefinable scent that has been driving them both for years — the whiff of undervalued assets.

Kirkcaldies has existed since 1863. It is inextricably linked with Christmas shopping for Wellingtonians in the way that Smith & Caughey's is for Aucklanders and Ballantynes for those in Christchurch.

But Kirkcaldies has seen better days. In the year till August it slumped to a $54,000 pre-tax loss compared with a $1.37 million pre-tax profit the year before.

In its current form the company has been listed on NZX since 2001 and has more than 1300 shareholders. Because of various restructurings and redevelopments, Kirkcaldies has not actually owned the building that bears its name in Lambton Quay for many years.

Seeing this as a weakness, the company in 2001 bought the adjacent Harbour City Centre retail building for $29m.

This allowed more space for the department store to expand and provided a source of rental income — $4m to $5m a year — to back up the retail arm. The strategy has worked. The rental income has been strong and has helped support the whole business.

The company decided not to treat the building as an investment property, but instead value it as a fixed asset. Kirkcaldies' 2011 financial accounts valued the building at $23.26m. However, directors cited independent valuations suggesting that once current earthquake strengthening and refurbishment of the building was completed, it would have a market value of $48.65m.

So, to put this into language that Brierley and Cushing most definitely understand, there is $25.4m of hidden value not currently recognised in Kirkcaldies' accounts.

Kirkcaldies' official stated net tangible assets per share figure — theoretically what shareholders would each get if the company cashed up all its assets — is $1.81.

But that "hidden" $25.4m of property value alone equates to $2.48 for each of the 10.25m Kirkcaldies shares on issue. Add that to the stated net tangible assets value and you have a potential actual value of $4.29 per share — compared with a current share price of just $2.72.

Did someone say undervalued assets?

What is likely to happen next seems fairly obvious. The two sirs will almost certainly campaign to "unlock the value" of that property investment.

Chalkie reckons Kirkcaldies has seen this one coming for a while. The Cushing family started buying Kirkcaldies shares in 2004 — though the buying has really stepped up in the past two years.

A glance at previous Kirkcaldies annual reports suggests that Brierley has probably had a significant slice of the company since at least 2006. He only breached the 5 per cent public disclosure level in September this year. In the event the first public call to do something about unleashing the unrealised value in the property actually came from another Kirkcaldies investor, Elevation Capital, earlier this year.

Kirkcaldies to date has been non-committal. Chairman Falcon Clouston told BusinessDay in September that no decision had been made. However, work was going on within the company that would make a splitting out of the property easier. "I'm not saying we're breaking the company up, but we're really tidying everything up," he said.

The biggest shareholder in Kirkcaldies is a company called LQ Investments. It bought its 19.4 per cent stake for $5.8m in 2006. Chalkie does wonder if this acquisition was a defensive move encouraged by Kirkcaldies, aware even then of the looming presence of the Cushings and Brierley.

Among those involved in LQ are Marc Lindale, Brian Fitzgerald and Graham Jackson. In 2006 all of them were senior executives for the now collapsed Strategic Finance group. What their attitude to a sale or separation of the property interest would be is not clear, though given that their stake is currently worth about $350,000 less than they paid for it, they may too now be of a view that getting direct value out of the property investment is the way to go.

Chalkie reckons Kirkcaldies will be under pressure to put forward measures at its next annual meeting, probably in February, to either propose a splitting of the company or a sale of the property. If the company doesn't itself propose this then your columnist reckons Brierley and the Cushings themselves will push for it. If the board is not responsive, it is probable the two sirs could muster enough voting support to get control of the board and push through their plans anyway.

Your columnist reckons that Brierley and the Cushings would probably favour a straight-out sale of the property followed by a — presumably hefty — capital return to shareholders. Then they would presumably take their leave. Chalkie reckons the Cushings alone, having paid about $4.6m for their stake, could easily reap a profit of $3m to $4m. But what would happen to Kirkcaldies after the property is divested?

Its retail business is faced with diminishing returns. Ten years ago the store had annual turnover of $35.4m. If you inflation-adjust the 2001 revenue figure it should have translated to sales of about $46.4m a decade on. But actual sales in 2011 were just $35.9m.

In 2001 the retail arm had after-tax earnings of $2.1m. This year there was a $465,000 loss. Over the same period dividends have plummeted from 35c a share to just 5.5c a share. The gross yield for shareholders has dropped from around 7 per cent to about 2 per cent.

The 2001 decision of Kirkcaldies to buy the Harbour City Centre was a prescient one. Owning the building has insulated the whole Kirkcaldie business. But without the property?

Chalkie reckons there might be a broader issue here that goes beyond Kirkcaldies.

Has commercial logic now reached a point where every business is simply seen as something to be broken up and the profits from that process pocketed? If so, is that how the country as a whole will ultimately grow?

Surely there is room to accept that a company might not make as much money short term running an ongoing department store business as it can flogging its commercial property — but just maybe that is OK sometimes. Maybe a business doesn't always have to go down the path that simply puts a short-term bulge in shareholders' wallets. Perhaps there is room for longer-term objectives. The Kirkcaldies shareholders will do what they feel they have to do. But unless surplus money is left in the company after any sale of the property — and frankly it is hard to imagine Brierley and Cushing agreeing to that — then Kirkcaldies department store may soon find itself right up against the tide.

Perhaps it could be sold as a going concern and become part of another retailing group, retaining the name and appearance of a stand-alone business.

But Chalkie reckons once the property assets are sold then the days of Kirkcaldies might actually be numbered. Some people are likely to get even richer along the way. Wellington and the country as a whole could be poorer.


David Hargreaves is a former Fairfax business reporter and columnist now writing freelance. Chalkie's name is derived from the people who used to "chalk" up the share prices on trading floors before the market went electronic.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/5932263/If-its-building-is-sold-Kirks-days-may-be-numbered
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« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2011, 03:15:18 pm »

Mana is a great party... great ideas....I think alot of smart Greens will vote for them...and good on them Wink
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« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2011, 04:13:15 pm »

Kirks started falling apart back in 2001 at the helm of their then GM Richard Holden ..

acquiring Harbour City Centre from David Chan and promising ALL the tenants that their businesses were safe Kirks only wanted a presence along Brandon Street ...

one of the 1st Harbour City shops to go wqs the Lingerie shop after the owner was told her annual rent was rising $12000pa

as she said she sold her bras and knickers arrived at the factory set price already printed on the label so there was no room to gain more profit from them

she closed on the friday the builders were in on monday they stripped the shop of its special lingerie racks and then replaced them all with new ones exactly as they were ......

and what did they sell .... lingerie for the yoinger set ewhilst acrosas the road in Kirks main store the old girls stuff was sold ....

slowly over the years ALL the original ground floor stores have gone the only one that has stayed is Country Road and it has expanded gobbling up other stores along the way ...

Harbour City Centre had a vibe all of its own with its selections of hair salons swimwear store womens clothing stores womens high fashion clothing shoe stores and various eateries

i remember a visit from Richard Holden to my " broom cupboard " tobacconist shop and told not to worry he wanted me there selling my smokes magazines newspapers sweets drinks offering dry cleaning services etc

i smelt a rat ...

our retailers committee got together and decided that the money we had sitting in our fund we would spend on a big Xmas promotion and give away a $10,000 shopping spree at the centre to 1 lucky shopper all wound up in a champagne cocktail party and fashion show

we decorated the whole complex with another $10,000 we received not one cent from Kirks or any help with Xmas decorations yet we were decorating THEIR complex ...

the night of the party the place hummed the lucky winner of the drawn and she returned a few days later to shop till she dropped spending in total some $11000

there were some long term tenants in Harbour City Centre but at the end of the day Kirks didnt give a stuff ..

i decided enough was enough when we [ the retailers ] couldnt get straight answers to simple questions  so i closed ....

Kirks original building has 2 towers rising above the original façade

In 1985 all of the shares in the company were purchased by the Renouf Corporation, later to be known as Hellaby Holdings. Renouf bought the company with a view to redeveloping the valuable site Kirkcaldies occupied. The redevelopment commenced in 1986 with the southern half of the building being demolished and an office tower was built above the new store. The other half of the building was completed in October 1989

http://www.kirkcaldies.co.nz/Overview/About/History.htm 
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« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2011, 08:13:16 pm »

i remember a visit from Richard Holden to my "broom cupboard" tobacconist shop and told not to worry he wanted me there selling my smokes magazines newspapers sweets drinks offering dry cleaning services etc


Tobacconist shops should be burnt to the ground....they sell a product which, when used as intended, KILL!!

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« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2011, 08:14:06 pm »


Kirkcaldie and Stains' quiet revolution

Reinventing a shopping institution

By NIKKI MACDONALD - The Dominion Post | 5:00AM - Saturday, 10 December 2011

WELL MET: Doorman Tom Neve, 76, right, a war veteran, believes the touch of the Old World brings out the best in people. — PHIL REID/Fairfax NZ.
WELL MET: Doorman Tom Neve, 76, right, a war veteran, believes the touch of the Old World brings
out the best in people. — PHIL REID/Fairfax NZ.


A ROUND-VOWELLED WOMAN woman proffers a perfume-infused white ribbon. "Madam, may I introduce to you the new Elie Saab," she says. "Darling, one for you too." Her long, grey hair scraped into a severe bun and wearing a floor-skimming skirt and sensible shoes, she resembles a ballet mistress, a remnant of a long-gone retailing era of fawning and forced politeness.

But at Kirkcaldie & Stains in Wellington, the anachronistic language blends easily with the doorman gift-wrapped in Christmas colours and the tinkling live piano. Two women in fine china swap blue-rinse horror stories: "Mine's very curly", "But mine's too straight".

But the Old World experience marketed by New Zealand's oldest department store is proving insufficient to save it from the retail blues. Sales revenue fell almost 3 per cent last year and the company's retail arm lost $465,000 after tax.

Gone are the days when Kirkcaldies fashion shows dictated the season's trends and any Kirkcaldies purchase was pronounced "correct".

If it is to survive, the Wellington institution must modernise and seduce a younger shopper, and soon. The store is subsidised by the company's property arm, which owns the Harbour City Centre, but shareholders for the splitting of the retail and property businesses are waiting in the wings. The revelation that corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley now holds a significant shareholding has raised speculation that the process could be accelerated.

Just inside Kirkcaldies' front door is the MAC cosmetic counter, a window on the store's possible future and the culture clash it will inevitably bring. Throbbing pop music drowns out the soothing Bechstein. There are tattoos and a shock of ruby-red hair. A taut-cheeked teenager is getting a makeover, barefoot. It's a bubble of modernity floating, fragile, on an ocean of tradition.

For decades, commentators have predicted the death of the department store. Invented by the French, the one-stop shops were adopted worldwide in the mid-19th century and their names became bywords for culture and chic — Harrods, Galeries Lafayette, Selfridges and Macy's.

In Wellington in 1863, young Britons John Kirkcaldie and Robert Stains founded a drapers in a warehouse on "the beach", as Lambton Quay was known. Kirkcaldie & Stains was born.

But the list is getting ever shorter. In the United States, Chicago institution Marshall Field's has been absorbed by Macy's. In England, Barkers and Dickens & Jones have closed shop. Even in China, where the middle class balloons every year, Shanghai's No.1 Department Store merged with a rival retailer.

Wellington has not been immune. DIC and James Smiths are long defunct and Kirkcaldies is hanging on by a skinny thread. In 2001, its retail arm had after-tax earnings of $2.1 million. Last year, it suffered a $465,000 loss.

Victoria University business senior lecturer David Stewart says department stores are squeezed between the extremes of boutiques and weekend-destination malls. They are old, middle class and "upmarket pedestrian".

"I like Kirks, but only for certain stuff. I buy my [English] Frank Cooper's Oxford marmalade there for $12 a jar — that sort of high-end stuff."

Globally, some stores have parried tough times with radical makeovers. Selfridges opened a £40m (NZ$80m) space-age Birmingham store in 2003.

"Shopping is entertainment," said former head Vittorio Radice. "It's not just about the product, but about the smile, the packaging, the whole ambience."

Hence the 500 naked people posing in Selfridges' London store in the name of art. Galeries Lafayette in Paris has opened a store within a store for younger fans, and offered free striptease classes in its revamped lingerie department.

So will Kirkcaldies be hosting nude art shows and slapping bling on its historical facade to lure new blood?

Kirkcaldies' managing director, Englishman John Milford, hardly looks the man to do it, in pinstripe suit and conservative crest tie. Change, yes. Revolution, certainly not.

"You cannot change overnight, radically, because you lose your existing customer base and it takes too long to find a new one," he says. "What you've got to do is a process of migrating slowly, and making sure you don't give away the bird in the hand."

There is no better illustration of the enormity of the task facing Milford than the $1.6m project to bring the store's antiquated computer system into the 21st century, to allow the store to sell online.

When he moved from national retailer Pacific Retail in 2006, Milford was astonished to find that rather than checking computerised stock records, Kirkcaldies buyers still count items in the stockroom.

While the ladies who lunch might seem unlikely online shoppers, Milford is optimistic web sales will be a boon for the company. There's undoubtedly an out-of-town market — Kirkcaldies' sales soar during the World of WearableArt.

"We've got 150 years of brand reliability, loyalty. We've got over 70,000 people in our database, 60 per cent of them on email. How many online stores can start up and communicate directly with a whole tranche of people who actually know what the brand stands for?"

Ironically, online trading will be a return to Kirkcaldies' roots, when the store printed mail-order catalogues and shipped the latest fineries to wealthy rural customers. But a pretty website and online sales will not save Kirkcaldies. Milford realises change is needed to encourage more younger faces — the lucrative post-university, pre-baby crowd, with high-fashion tastes and fast-opening wallets.

This is not a new revelation. In the 1920s and '30s, Kirkcaldies struggled with poor profits and ageing customers.

"I cannot understand why no provision has been made to cater for the younger girl and the average flapper," managing director J. Crosser complained in 1932. "About 75 per cent of the total trade done by the shopping public is covered by women folk between 18 and 35, so you can gain some idea of how much trade we are missing."

The revamp has already begun, quietly. Australian brand Witchery has moved in upstairs and edgy Trelise Cooper offshoot COOP has just signed on, but they, like MAC, must learn to co-exist with tradition. Because that, says Milford, is not negotiable.

"Younger people come in and say, ‘The doorman is old-fashioned. The lady playing the piano is old-fashioned. Why do we have so many people selling stuff in the store? That's all old-fashioned’."

"I say, ‘It's just marketing’. The doorman, the piano player, the birds, the quality of service, the fact that on the shop floor we call each other by our surnames — it's marketing. It's what our brand is. I don't think it is old-fashioned. The fact we have someone who opens the door, it's the start of the experience we create at Kirks."

That doorman is Tom Neve, 76, a war veteran and Kirks veteran of 12 years.

"It's like being on stage. You dress up and act the part," he says.

Neve removes his top hat and mops his head. Tufted white hair creeps towards a hearing aid, but he is bright and chatty and talks about the regulars like old friends. He believes the touch of the Old World brings out the best in people. "You see a man come along with his wife. He sees me and all of a sudden his manners come out: he puts her in front. It's quite funny."

Neve recognises the need for balance between modernity and tradition, and he is optimistic Kirkcaldies will survive.

"There would be such an outcry about it. This is where Mrs Khandallah and Mrs Karori shop. If they don't like something, they will tell you. They will go as far as saying, ‘I'm a shareholder’."

The staff are clearly what sets Kirkcaldies apart — all 280 of them. Although Milford intends to trim office costs, there are no plans to cut staff numbers. In an age of ever-diminishing sales service, lingerie sales assistant Anne Coventry, 62, can spend an hour measuring, fitting and ferrying bras.

She has been here 16 years, seen the advent of eftpos and seen retail get tougher and tougher. Her son works in dispatch downstairs.

She fields bamboo cotton singlet inquiries from a grey-haired granny and passes neon butterfly-print first bras to nervous teenagers dragged in by mum.

"I fitted a customer this morning, a lady complaining that her bras were uncomfortable. I knew the bra straight away that I thought would work. She bought three."

She doubts department stores are dead, but believes there's room for improvement: livelier music and better marketing to convince shoppers Kirkcaldies isn't expensive — a point reiterated by Neve and Milford.

Eddy Meyer has something more radical in mind. With rose tattoos on his forearm, a black beanie, skinny rock-star black jeans and a World Aids Day red ribbon painted on his cheek, the 27-year-old MAC cosmetics studio manager inhabits a parallel universe to Coventry.

Backed by booming beats, Meyer tells of the "difficult" first years of culture clash: 15-year-olds paying $90 to look like Kim Kardashian or Katy Perry, rugby sevens spectators getting crazy costume makeovers. "Kirkcaldies is very traditional in its ways, and MAC is everything but traditional."

The Frenchman, who has worked at Parisian department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, gushes about the marriage of tradition and "something a bit fresh, young and crazy like MAC".

He says Kirkcaldies must extend the edgy into the rest of the store.

"Galeries Lafayette has a store within a store, with all the trendiest, hippest brands you can find. I think if Kirkcaldies really wants to reach new customers, it will have to do something like that."

Blak designer Teresa Hodges, who sells her clothes through hip boutique Good as Gold, illustrates his point.

Luxury department stores, she says, still have a magic, but she shops there only for underwear and makeup.

"I love the MAC counter. If I'm looking for anything else, I'll go to a boutique or look online for a more exclusive or unusual piece."

Just how quickly Kirkcaldies must reverse its retail slump could depend on shareholders.

In February, shareholder Elevation Capital urged Kirkcaldies' chairman Falcon Clouston to consider splitting the retail and property businesses.

The total value of Kirkcaldies shares has historically been less than the value of the Harbour City Centre it owns, making selling off the property arm an attractive prospect for shareholders. A company controlled by Sir Selwyn Cushing increased its stake in Kirkcaldies to 17 per cent in June, and former Brierley Investment colleague Sir Ron Brierley revealed in September that he owned 5.7 per cent.

Cushing's son David and Brierley himself both say they are "open-minded" about the company's future and insist that they have no plans to push for a company split at the February annual general meeting.

Brierley concedes "the profitability of the store is a problem". However, he calls Kirkcaldies "a Wellington icon" and "a very nice little store, particularly by New Zealand standards", and believes it would be "regrettable" if it disappeared.

Cushing says Kirkcaldies comprises two "really good businesses, but totally different businesses". Although he says he is open-minded, he expects the directors to "maximise value for all shareholders", and is contemplating attending the annual meeting.

He also insists there is still a place for Kirkcaldies' "brilliant" store.

"I've just been in London and I spent a good few hours in Harrods. I think department stores are tremendous, with really good merchandise and really attentive staff. It's been there for 100 years. It must have some future."

Milford makes no secret of the fact that the company is tidying up its property assets, but says it is not yet ready to sell.

It is 85 per cent through earthquake strengthening the front building and is still freeing up the development site behind, which could accommodate a 75-metre-high building.

So what happens if the property arm is sold?

"What it means is the retail business has to be sustainable. Otherwise, it won't stay in business."

So does it matter if Kirkcaldies' imposing facade no longer houses a luxury department store in 10 years?

Dame Kate Harcourt says yes. While it no longer has the influence it did in the 60s, when she organised fashion shows that would dictate the colours and styles of the season, it remains a Wellington institution.

"I think it still represents quality, Wellington's highest standards. There was a play I've just been in with a line it, ‘It's like Kirks' sale’, and the audience just went up. I think they have to move with the times. They can't just rest on past laurels. That wouldn't do at all."


______________________________________

KIRKS' ROLLERCOASTER UPS AND DOWNS

  • 1863: British immigrants John Kirkcaldie and Robert Stains set up a "men's hosiers & linen drapers" in a shed on "The Beach", as Lambton Quay was known.

  • 1864: Kirkcaldies' first real shop opens in Waterloo House, with a general mourning department and mail-order catalogues for out-of-towners.

  • 1868: New store opens on present-day site, complete with own cricket team and choir.

  • 1894: Kirkcaldies pre-empts Saatchi & Saatchi's Wellington branding slogan by almost a century, advertising "Absolutely and positively the largest, most varied and most complete assortment of ladies' and children's winter garments".

  • October, 1898: Annie McWilliam pulls a six-chamber revolver from her coat and shoots at tearoom manager Ellen Dick three times, over a long-standing dispute. Dick's corset prevents the bullet penetrating.

  • 1897: Napier branch opens, but lasts only 20 years.

  • 1916: Keith Kirkcaldie talks of the business's "financial crisis".

  • 1920s: Recession and competition bite. DIC opens department store in adjacent block. Net profits fall from £19,328 in 1920 to £4,666 in 1922.

  • 1930: Bank of New South Wales warns Kirkcaldies directors that its £5,507 net profit is "to put it mildly, absurdly low" return on capital.

  • 1931: Worst year ever, with £38,000 trading loss. New managing director speaks of need to appeal to younger customers. Forty staff sacked in a day.

  • 1940s: Fortunes improve: net profits rise from £14,301 in 1941 to £32,263 in 1945.

  • 1958: Peter Kirkcaldie leaves board and management, ending the family's 96-year connection. The Queen Mother buys a handbag for £6-15s.

  • 1988: First Kirks Christmas shop opens.

  • 1993: Rival department store James Smith closes down.

  • September, 2011: Sir Ron Brierley declares a 5.7 per cent stake in Kirkcaldies. Says the store's profitability is a problem, but it would be "regrettable" for Kirks to close.

• Source: “Kirkcaldies & Stains — A Wellington Story” by Julia Millen.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/6117098/Kirkcaldie-and-Stains-quiet-revolution
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« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2011, 08:45:08 pm »

i remember a visit from Richard Holden to my "broom cupboard" tobacconist shop and told not to worry he wanted me there selling my smokes magazines newspapers sweets drinks offering dry cleaning services etc


Tobacconist shops should be burnt to the ground....they sell a product which, when used as intended, KILL!!



what an idiot you are ....

if that be the case all Service Stations Supermarkets corner Dairies should burnt to the ground as well ...

jeez KTJ you are showing yourself more and more to being the village idiot of this forum ....

you go on about BM your equally as bad worse
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« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2011, 06:08:54 am »

 We now know why KTJ supports the Greens It is because they promote his fascist views
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« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2011, 10:45:13 am »


Kirkcaldie & Stains asked to sell

By HAMISH RUTHERFORD - The Dominion Post | 10:01AM - Friday, 16 December 2011

Kirkcaldie & Stains

KIRKCALDIE & STAINS has revealed it has been approached about selling its famous department store, but admits it has no idea who is behind the plan.

The NZX listed company issued a statement a few minutes ago confirming it, and other shareholders, had received a letter from JC Capital, a Wellington-based entity, which claimed it was acting on behalf of an "un-named group expressing interest in the retail assets of the company, but not the property assets nor the company as a whole".

It added: "The company is aware that a similar letter has been sent to a number of shareholders".

Kirkcaldie & Stains has just over 1300 shareholders, with almost 99 per cent of the company's shares owned by New Zealand based investors.

"Other than this letter, no approach has been received from JC Capital. In the absence of hearing from J C Capital the board will make contact to understand the nature of the interest and advise the market accordingly."


Kirkcaldie & Stains

MANAGING DIRECTOR John Milford said today that he had no contact with JC Capital in the past, and did not know who was behind it, but was seeking a meeting with its representatives.

Milford said the letter from JC Capital contained no details about how much it might be willing to offer for the retail business.

"I can't tell you any more because I don't know any more... The chairman and I will request a meeting, then we'll go from there. We know no more than we put in the NZX [statement]."

Milford said because it had been sent to some shareholders the company believed it needed to draw it to the attention of the share market.

"We felt it was our obligation to put it out through the NZX because all shareholders should be aware."

A meeting is expected to happen next week.

JC Capital's sole shareholder, John Keith Chandler, could not immediately be reached for comment.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/retail/6150685/Kirkcaldie-Stains-asked-to-sell
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« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2011, 10:31:12 am »


Kirks sale approach not ‘hostile’

By KIRK RUTHERFORD - The Dominion Post | 8:25AM - Monday, 19 December 2011

RETAIL SALE: Last week Kirkcaldie & Stains received contact from an unknown group about buying its retail business.
RETAIL SALE: Last week Kirkcaldie & Stains received contact from an unknown
group about buying its retail business.


THE MAN leading an approach to buy the Kirkcaldie & Stains department store says its approach is not hostile, despite contacting shareholders about the plan without warning its board.

Last week Kirkcaldies was forced to tell the stock exchange it had received contact from an unknown group about buying its retail business, when it became clear that some shareholders had been alerted to the plans.

The approach was from Wellington investment group JC Capital, on behalf of unnamed investors, described as "internationally experienced retailers" although yesterday they made it clear there was no firm plan to pursue a deal.

JC Capital director John Chandler did not respond to requests for an interview, but said in an email that the suggestion that its approach was hostile were "wide of the mark".

He said: "The board has been asked if they would like to receive an offer for a loss making part of its business. Nothing more. If the board and management is considering options for splitting the retail and property arms, then it may have already decided against a sale. It seemed logical to ask before preparing and presenting a formal offer."

Chandler's statement did not mention the fact that within hours of contacting Kirkcaldies management about the possible offer, he also wrote to at least some of the company's major shareholders with a very similar email.

JC Capital was awaiting a response to its letter and expected to receive it at a meeting early this week.

"The board has been asked whether the company is open to an offer for the retail business. If it is not, then there is nothing for us to take any further. If, however, the board is interested, then we can discuss with them how that process might evolve. To avoid any confusion here, there is currently no offer on the table from us," Chandler said.

"Staff, customers and shareholders all have a strong desire to see the retail side of the business operating profitably. JC Capital is representing a group of internationally experienced retailers who share this view."

JC Capital's method was described as "bizarre" by one person who had seen the letter, because the same message could have easily been made informally.

Kirkcaldies' board has also made it clear that it was undertaking preparatory work to enable the loss-making retail business to be split from the profitable commercial property assets, meaning there was no clear need to go behind the board's back.

Even David Cushing, who along with father Sir Selwyn controls around 17 per cent of Kirkcaldies' shares, seemed surprised about the approach of JC Capital. Asked about receiving the letter he said: "I'm sure they will have had contact with the board".

While the department store, which opened on Lambton Quay in the 1860s, has been bustling in recent days in the lead-up to Christmas, it has struggled to make money in recent times, with retailers across New Zealand struggling against weak consumer confidence and increasing competition from online rivals.

Kirkcaldies' managing director John Milford said on Friday that while the timing of the approach was not ideal, he would go into the meeting with an open mind.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/6160084/Kirks-sale-approach-not-hostile
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Newtown-Fella
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« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2011, 04:14:02 pm »

Jonkey's rich-prick mates are up to their old asset-stripping tricks again

proof KTJ proof ...

links ......

oh thats right there is no proof that Jonkey's rich-prick mates are up to their old asset-stripping tricks again with Kirkcaldies ....

as reported its .... "internationally experienced retailers" ......

want to guess who they might be KTJ ......

im damn sure they arent Jonkey's rich-prick mates ...
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« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2011, 04:41:51 pm »


Errrrrrrr....why are you posting in this thread?

After all, you did start your own “Kirkcaldie & Stains” thread because you disapproved of the title of this already existing thread.

So how come you're now lowering yourself to post in this one that you don't approve of? 




Anyway, I presume you're gullible enough to believe the spin spouted by John Chandler from JC Capital?

After all, you were gullible enough to believe John Key when he promised there would be NO rise in GST! 
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« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2011, 05:04:50 pm »


Errrrrrrr....why are you posting in this thread?

After all, you did start your own “Kirkcaldie & Stains” thread because you disapproved of the title of this already existing thread.

So how come you're now lowering yourself to post in this one that you don't approve of? 




Anyway, I presume you're gullible enough to believe the spin spouted by John Chandler from JC Capital?

After all, you were gullible enough to believe John Key when he promised there would be NO rise in GST! 


well at least my thread has the correct title ...

anyway i see your avoiding the hard questions yet again you bitter and twisted choo choo train driver  aka KTJ ......

you see there is nothing in the media [ except your delusion ] that its Johnkeys rich prick mates who are after buying Kirkcaldies and stains ...

ive read its .... "internationally experienced retailers" ...

so for a change grow some balls and answer the question as i posted ......

" proof KTJ proof ...

links ...... "
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reality
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« Reply #12 on: December 19, 2011, 06:13:17 pm »

Newt

...good luck, bwusie doesnt really go for facts in a big way..alot like communist dictators Wink
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Newtown-Fella
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« Reply #13 on: December 19, 2011, 08:18:55 pm »

Newt

...good luck, bwusie doesnt really go for facts in a big way..alot like communist dictators Wink

put it this way buddy im not holding my breath .....

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« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2012, 08:56:28 am »

Kirkcaldie & Stains takes steps for sale

Kirkcaldie & Stains is preparing to hire brand experts to try to put a price on the 149-year-old Wellington department store, amid signs of progress towards a sale.

Chairman Falcon Clouston will this week hold a second meeting with John Chandler, the investment banker representing unnamed investors who have indicated they wish to buy the landmark retailer.

While Chandler declined to comment last week on whether an indicative offer for Kirks was being prepared, he and Clouston have been exchanging emails over Christmas and the investors are said to still have a "keen interest" in the assets.

Clouston said last week that if the talks appeared to be progressing he expected to hire a branding expert to attempt to establish what the business is worth.

While as a company Kirkcaldie & Stains has large and profitable commercial property assets, these do not include the main building in Lambton Quay in which the retail business operates.

As a retail business Kirks has been losing money for about five years. While Clouston believed more of the cost of management time should be charged to the property business than was currently the case, it was clear that the main value in a sale would be intangible, and difficult to define.

"The big thing is the goodwill value of the brand, and what's that worth? A 150-year-old icon company like Kirks. I don't know," Clouston said when asked if he had an idea of the store's value.

Kirkcaldie & Stains holds its annual shareholder meeting at the Wellington Club on February 14. The chairman wants to update shareholders on whether a deal is likely.

The NZX-listed company has been inching towards a separation between its retail and property assets for months, with Elevation Capital writing to the board last year noting that the book value of the property assets was greater than the company's market capitalisation.

Chandler's interest became public in early December when Kirks managing director John Milford discovered that some of the company's major shareholders – including Sir Ron Brierley – had also been contacted.

Clouston conceded that holding meetings with Chandler effectively invited all possible bidders, although so far no rival interest had been forthcoming.

"You would think that if there are other potential people out there, it would bring them out of the woodwork a bit."

At their first meeting in December, Clouston said he wanted Chandler to reveal who the investors were, give an indication of what they might be prepared to pay, and what the long-term plans for the business were. It is expected that Chandler will go someway towards meeting the demands, although no firm offer is expected this week.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6332447/Kirkcaldie-Stains-takes-steps-for-sale
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« Reply #15 on: January 16, 2016, 08:01:06 am »


And today is the day when the asset-stripping actions of greedy, selfish, “fuck-you” attitudes of traitorous CAPITALIST SLIMEBAGS results in the closure of a 152-year-old Wellington institution, Kirckaldie & Stains department store. The sooner we have a revolution and filth such as Selwyn Cushing and Ron Brierley are put up against a wall and shot (after first being tortured), the better society will be.

Yet another example of LYING, CHEATING, STEALING CAPITALISTS at work.



from The Dominion Post…

End of an era for Wellington as Kirkcaldie & Stains closes its doors for good

Saturday, 16 January 2016

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reality
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« Reply #16 on: January 16, 2016, 08:11:29 am »

kj...."The sooner we have a revolution..."

..ahhhhhhahaha...shall I wait on the edge of my seat Tongue
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« Reply #17 on: January 16, 2016, 10:52:30 pm »



(click on the picture to read the news story)
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« Reply #18 on: January 17, 2016, 06:01:47 am »

kj..."Selwyn Cushing and Ron Brierley are put up against a wall and shot ..."

...thought you were against the death penalty...does this mean you have changed to be pro death penalty in NZ Tongue
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« Reply #19 on: January 17, 2016, 02:34:34 pm »


Selwyn Cushing and Ron Brierley are thieves & crooks from way back.

They both have a long history of muscling their way into businesses, asset-stripping them to line their own pockets, then throwing those businesses (and in most cases their worders) to the dogs. They hide behind their equally-bent lawyers and loopholes in the law as they rip-off ordinary hard-working New Zealanders.

Morally, though, they are despicable individuals and traitors to the ordinary folks of New Zealand.


RIP Kirkcauldie & Stains.....yet another victim of greedy scumbags who care only about enriching themselves.
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reality
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« Reply #20 on: January 17, 2016, 02:41:01 pm »

good to see you have recanted ..I'll take that as a no... Wink
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reality
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« Reply #21 on: January 18, 2016, 05:15:40 am »

...build more prisons....and use them...especially for those who are a danger to other people Roll Eyes

...violent offenders...drunk drivers...etc etc


Judge criticises government 'anti-prison' policy

Judge Allan Roberts said there was a "government direction" to probation officers to recommend other penalties than prison, in order to keep offenders out of jail.

New Plymouth's most outspoken judge has struck out at what he believes is a government push to keep offenders out of jail.

Judge Allan Roberts sent Joshua Aaron Salvador Edwards, 26, to jail for four and a half months on Friday, despite a report recommending he be given electronic monitoring for breaching his sentence of community work, breaching his sentence of supervision, driving while disqualified and failing to stop.

Roberts said there was a "government direction" to probation officers to recommend other penalties than prison, in order to keep offenders out of jail.

"They wish to see the courts make greater use of sentences other than imprisonment," Roberts said.

"That's why we are getting reports that sometimes don't have an appropriate penalty alongside them.

"They underpitch, deliberately so."

Roberts said the initial two reports recommended imprisonment and that it was only on the third report that community detention was recommended as an alternative.

Edwards' lawyer Jo Woodcock defended the probation officer's latest report.

"Sir, you say that the probation office is deliberately underpitching, but in my submission they are recognising that a sentence of community detention or home detention could be offered to this man."

Judge Roberts said jail was an appropriate punishment for Edwards, in part because he had only completed 66.5 hours of the 300 hours of community work to which he was sentenced in April 2015.

Roberts said Edwards suffered from gout and that may have precluded him from certain community work tasks, but there was no reason he could not do light duties.

"Court sentences are not optional," Roberts said.

Edwards was caught driving while disqualified at 2.44am on September 1 in Bulls, where he continued to drive for 24km despite a police officer following him with blue and red flashing lights and a howling siren.

Roberts said Edwards had previous similar convictions and a history on non-compliance with penalties.

"On the face of things you don't pay fines, you don't do community work, you are non-compliant with supervision demands," Roberts said.

"Yet here I am asked to send you to community detention.

"I'm intending to jail you. I am not intending to impose a monitored sentence on you in hope that you can show greater application to those sentences than you have previously."

Roberts sentenced Edwards to four-and-a-half months' imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for 15 months.

 - Stuff
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« Reply #22 on: January 18, 2016, 08:39:09 am »


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reality
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« Reply #23 on: January 18, 2016, 09:00:36 am »

I like it when you are unable to debate the issue...gives me that winning feeling....thanks for surrendering Tongue
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« Reply #24 on: January 18, 2016, 10:24:44 am »

I fail to see the relevance of this story to the thread title. Is this another attempt by Reality to change the topic?

Why not start a new thread?

...build more prisons....and use them...especially for those who are a danger to other people Roll Eyes

...violent offenders...drunk drivers...etc etc


Judge criticises government 'anti-prison' policy

Judge Allan Roberts said there was a "government direction" to probation officers to recommend other penalties than prison, in order to keep offenders out of jail.

New Plymouth's most outspoken judge has struck out at what he believes is a government push to keep offenders out of jail.

Judge Allan Roberts sent Joshua Aaron Salvador Edwards, 26, to jail for four and a half months on Friday, despite a report recommending he be given electronic monitoring for breaching his sentence of community work, breaching his sentence of supervision, driving while disqualified and failing to stop.

Roberts said there was a "government direction" to probation officers to recommend other penalties than prison, in order to keep offenders out of jail.

"They wish to see the courts make greater use of sentences other than imprisonment," Roberts said.

"That's why we are getting reports that sometimes don't have an appropriate penalty alongside them.

"They underpitch, deliberately so."

Roberts said the initial two reports recommended imprisonment and that it was only on the third report that community detention was recommended as an alternative.

Edwards' lawyer Jo Woodcock defended the probation officer's latest report.

"Sir, you say that the probation office is deliberately underpitching, but in my submission they are recognising that a sentence of community detention or home detention could be offered to this man."

Judge Roberts said jail was an appropriate punishment for Edwards, in part because he had only completed 66.5 hours of the 300 hours of community work to which he was sentenced in April 2015.

Roberts said Edwards suffered from gout and that may have precluded him from certain community work tasks, but there was no reason he could not do light duties.

"Court sentences are not optional," Roberts said.

Edwards was caught driving while disqualified at 2.44am on September 1 in Bulls, where he continued to drive for 24km despite a police officer following him with blue and red flashing lights and a howling siren.

Roberts said Edwards had previous similar convictions and a history on non-compliance with penalties.

"On the face of things you don't pay fines, you don't do community work, you are non-compliant with supervision demands," Roberts said.

"Yet here I am asked to send you to community detention.

"I'm intending to jail you. I am not intending to impose a monitored sentence on you in hope that you can show greater application to those sentences than you have previously."

Roberts sentenced Edwards to four-and-a-half months' imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for 15 months.

 - Stuff
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