ouch..any thoughts on impact on nlg?

Last drinks for pub king HedleyVanda Carson
July 2, 2009
THE Queensland pub and property development king Tom Hedley has come unstuck, with both sides of his business crumbling simultaneously.

ANZ and Suncorp yesterday pulled the plug on his construction business, while ANZ has also called time on the 10 pubs he holds through private companies.

Mr Hedley, 58, who was once worth $715 million, is believed to have come undone under the weight of debts accrued on his hotel buying sprees at the top of the market in 2006 and 2007.

John Park, Robert Hutson and Richard Buckby from Korda Mentha were appointed as receiver of eight companies which run both the construction and the pub companies, according to ASIC records. Justin Walsh from Ernst and Young was also appointed as a receiver of the construction companies. ANZ is owed about $200 million.

The receivership comes after BankWest appointed receivers in May to a pub company owned by Mr Hedley's protege, Stuart Laundy, the son of the NSW pub king Arthur Laundy.

Mr Hedley's private companies Hedz Pty Ltd and TWH (Qld) Pty Ltd own the leasehold to 10 pubs spread between Queensland, NSW and South Australia. The pubs are leased from Hedley Leisure and Gaming Property Fund, which owes $754 million to a syndicate of banks headed by the ANZ. Hedley Leisure is in negotiations to extend its loans. It owns - but does not run - a total of 89 pubs.

TWH (Qld) holds Mr Hedley's 57 per cent stake in Hedley Leisure, the company he floated two years ago. His stake in it has fallen in value from more than $300 million to $27 million.

TWH (Qld) also owns 19 per cent of the pub operator National Leisure and Gaming, which leases about 32 of its 36 pubs from Hedley Leisure. National Australia Bank yesterday agreed to extend its $185 million loan to Hedley Leisure until 2011.

National Leisure and Gaming's shares are trading at 0.7c.

The warning signs began last week, when Mr Hedley stepped down as a director of Hedley Leisure, and days later he agreed to settle a $15 million loan to National Leisure and Gaming for just $1.5 million.

He came undone when he tipped the $306 million proceeds of the sale of a group of hotels to Coles into the float of Hedley Leisure. It listed at $3.50; the units are now worth just 25c.

He also lost some of his fortune after he had to refinance margin loans on his units in Hedley Leisure when their value fell.