Civil proceedings could ‘bring some serious coin’

A Wellington lawyer expects to bring civil proceedings against the trustees and board of directors of Marlborough’s power provider before Christmas, claiming power users in the region could be in for ‘‘some serious coin’’.

Stuff reported in April a bid was being mounted to remove the Marlborough Lines’ board and the trust that governs it – after the purchase of major wine company, Yealands Wines.

The Marlborough Electric Power Trust owns Marlborough Lines on behalf of anyone who has an electricity account in Marlborough, which sits around 25,000 connections.

Marlborough Lines bought 80 per cent of Yealands Wines in 2015 for $89 million, and in June 2018 they took full ownership – taking the investment to around $120m.

In June 2018, founder of the wine company, Peter Yealands quit as a director of Yealands Wines. Later that year, a suppression order lifted and revealed Peter Yealands and two former senior staff had been prosecuted for covering up the addition of sugar to post-fermentation wine that was destined for Europe.

Marlborough Lines said Yealands did not disclose the false-record keeping when he sold his remaining stake. Marlborough Lines could have sued but chose not to.

Instead, Marlborough Lines chairperson and Yealands Wine director David Dew and former Marlborough Lines managing director Ken Forrest said the company reached a settlement which saw Yealands sell his remaining shares to the company at less than they were worth.

Wellington lawyer Wigley was acting on behalf of a group of ‘‘mostly Blenheim clients’’ seeking compensation, he said.

‘‘That money is not for my group, it’s for power consumers – the ultimate shareholders,’’ Wigley said this week. ‘‘It’s some serious coin.’’

Wigley said at the time of the Yealands purchase there was ‘‘plenty of warning signs’’ that indicated they should not have made the purchase.

Dew said it was ‘‘business as usual’’ for the Marlborough Lines board.

‘‘Mr Wigley has been threatening this for nearly a year now and we’ve seen nothing, so life carries on,’’ Dew said.