The acrimony that led to closure of Kent Street’s most famous eatery continues with the bringing of an application in the NSW Supreme Court to terminate Tetsuya Wakuda’s Deed of Company Arrangement (DoCA).
Back in March the wasabi sensei persuaded creditors of his company T Pty. Ltd. to accept 18.5 cents in the dollar on their debts in preference to winding up the company and appointing liquidators.
Recommending the deal was the company’s administrator Cameron Gray, then of DW Advisory who has since defected to Hamilton Murphy.
The Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (DCoT) was also in favour, with DCoT proxy Michael Moseley telling creditors at the reconvened second meeting on March 31 that the offer looked attractive given the challenges facing a liquidator trying to prove allegations that Tetsuya’s art collection was worth more than the $90,000 it had been valued at and that he was also supposedly hiding his best plonk.
Tetsuya’s business associate Sashi Makkapati of PropInvest Advisors was also admitted to vote for a small sum, as was his accountant and Gray’s referrer, Steven Lin of Quantiphy.
The creditor making the allegations – Tetsuya’s former landlord and the largest creditor by dollar value with admitted claims of $1.3 million – voted against the DoCA, as did Revenue NSW.
That forced Gray to use his casting vote to got the DoCA done, which he did, telling creditors that the claim of the landlord, 529 Kent Pty Ltd included a non-contingent amount of almost $800,000.
The meeting Minutes provide significant insights as to why the Teoh family – whose 529 Kent Pty Ltd is the holding company for the CBD property where Tetsuya plied his craft for 35 years – thinks their former celebrity tenant is holding out.
Hewlett Legal special counsel Nicole Campbell, who represented 529 Kent at the meeting, argued that her clients had detailed knowledge of T Pty Ltd’s wine stocks and were convinced not all of it had been disclosed.
She also argued that Tetsuya’s 130 piece art collection required further investigation to prove the works belonged to the company and were not personal gifts, as Tetsuya has insisted.
Peter Hegarty, the lawyer representing Tetsuya at the meeting sought to refute the allegations, saying that Gray had fully investigated the questions around artworks and the wine stocks and said creditors would have the full benefit of the wine as Gray sold it down.
Neither Gray, Hegarty or Kells’ Mario Quintiliani – who is acting for 529 Kent – responded to iNO’s enquiries by deadline but Campbell’s warning at the conclusion of the meeting – that her client would move to have the DoCA set aside – was no hollow boast. Proceedings to do just that were commenced on May 29.
I wonder whether there are any third-party guarantees particularly in relation to the lease of the premises or in relation to the activities of the lessee company which would fall outside any DOCA?