Tuesday, 11 July 2023 08:55

Sad ending for Happy Valley

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
An artist's impression of the planned milk plant in Otorohanga. An artist's impression of the planned milk plant in Otorohanga.

After struggling for years to secure capital, a proposed greenfield milk plant project in King Country has collapsed.

The Happy Valley Nutrition board went into voluntary administration last week.

Advisory and restructuring firm McGrathNicol says the Happy Valley board has appointed Andrew Grenfell and Kare Johnstone as voluntary administrators.

It says the administrators are undertaking an urgent review of HVNL. Further updates will be provided in due course.

The first statutory meeting of creditors is expected to take place on July 18.

"A meeting notice setting out the time and location for the first meeting of the creditors will be distributed to HVNL's creditors over the coming days," it says.

HVNL was set up in 2016 to develop the milk plant.

While the company had acquired land at Otorohanga and had obtained resource consents from the Otorohanga District Council and Waikato Regional Council, it failed to secure funding for the project.

One of the HVNL founders and key backers Randolph van der Burgh, who resigned from the board in May, wouldn't comment.

"I am no longer an HVN director and therefore I am not able, nor authorised, to comment," he told Dairy News.

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