Has the Taupo Race Circuit been sold?

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by Just Do It!

With due respect, Mark, you told the story. I just listened intently and got curious.

My Bad, humble apologies JDI, I am guilty of zeroing in on your suggestion of a consortium! which is as I said before, is most unlikely, given Mr Quinn's wealth and reputation.

Apparently it was a very quite meeting mainly attended by Car club member's anxious to know about track booking etc.

The Shareholders meeting on the 26th, next week, will be the decision making time for the shareholders who have to vote on writing off their entire investment or alternatively advertising the circuit for sale to a much wider international audience, and trusting they may salvage something out of the track's current debt load to the Bank and the Taupo District Council.

It seems Tony think's the facilities are very drab and need an 'injection' of colour plus a lot of landscaping to beautify the racetrack etc, and then, following a 3 month track closure, would be re-opened under a new name and management etc.

[blizard]

Dear Class Representative, Competitors and Race Contacts,

There are rumours circulating about a proposed interested buyer of the Taupo Motorsport Park (TMP) and that TMP are not in a strong position financially. These are both true and an offer has been made to the TMP Board of Directors, but the sale has NOT happened and it will be up to the TMP Shareholders (TCC are shareholders also) to decide at a Special General Meeting to be held on the 26th February.

TCC along with TMP and Taupo District Council (TDC) have a tripartite Lease Agreement Contract that gives TCC certain use arrangements as remuneration for us giving over our existing track, plant and equipment that was valued at $1.2m.

If the sale is approved, the interested buyer has made it very clear that we will lose those use arrangements and this will most certainly affect ALL of our race meetings. He has also indicated that he will, upon purchase, close the entire facility for at least 3-6 months, upgrade it and re-open with a new image and name. Needless to say his vision is very different to the current arrangements. This means that our Easter and Truck Race Championship meetings and Winter Series for 2015 will be affected. Also in the future we may no longer be able to, nor afford to, hold our ‘traditional’ race meetings.

TCC has several options we are looking at within the next 7 days and we are seeking legal advice with regard to our Lease Agreement Contract. One of those is to look into the possibility of buying some of the debt TMP is struggling with, thereby keeping the place running. Another is to look at purchasing the business ourselves and this is where we need your written and possible financial support.

Therefore we would appreciate a letter from as many of you as possible in support of Taupo Car Club to present with our proposed business plan and to our fellow TMP Shareholders with a view to continue to provide a motor race circuit where we can foster all motorsport at all levels from grassroots to championship. Please pass this onto your fellow competitors and anyone that you wish to. All support is appreciated.

Please send your letters to me at this email address racecoordinator@taupocarclub.org.nz

I thank you in advance from the tireless volunteers of Taupo Car Club who are looking out for the best interests of our customers.. YOU.

Regards
Melanie Coleman & Terry O’Brien
Taupo Car Club Representatives.

It's a bit of a worry I think. I'll be writing an email in support of TCC.

[The Realist]

Originally Posted by Mark Petch

My Bad, humble apologies JDI, I am guilty of zeroing in on your suggestion of a consortium! which is as I said before, is most unlikely, given Mr Quinn's wealth and reputation.

Apparently it was a very quite meeting mainly attended by Car club member's anxious to know about track booking etc.

The Shareholders meeting on the 26th, next week, will be the decision making time for the shareholders who have to vote on writing off their entire investment or alternatively advertising the circuit for sale to a much wider international audience, and trusting they may salvage something out of the track's current debt load to the Bank and the Taupo District Council.

It seems Tony think's the facilities are very drab and need an 'injection' of colour plus a lot of landscaping to beautify the racetrack etc, and then, following a 3 month track closure, would be re-opened under a new name and management etc.

What a sad situation for our track to be in.
If what you say is right, then the situation has been steadily getting worse for years, possibly from the beginning when the extensions were done.
For all the shareholders to loose their investment, our car club included, the original concept for the redevelopment must have been flawed.
In my humble opinion someone must have given investors a whole lot of bad advise which has resulted with a total loss of asset.
Apart from the TCC, no other shareholder seems to have benefitted from the tracks operation, and now that benefit is also at risk.
Hopefully our Taupo Car Club has not been a contributor to the current position the track is in. If the tripartite Lease Agreement Contract is part of the cause of the track's demise, then many of the shareholders would have just cause to be grumpy with both the Car Club, and the instigator of this agreement.
That's my opinion anyway!

[goldedge]

Hi guys,
I would prefer that Taupo was not sold into total private ownership.

Having said that if an investor with some good marketing and management skillls was to become involved in order
to modernise market and promote the circuit that could be a good thing for both parties?

Does any one know if the club have considered selling shares to raise capital or perhaps
crowd funding using the internet, it could be that members of other motorsport clubs could be interested
in owning a share to support the track.

I do think that it is probably time that all the nz track owners/managers/clubs started to look at running
their tracks as a modern entertainment business as opposed to a part time hobby operation?

No offense intended but I think something needs to change or the problem is likely to get worse?

Comments welcome.

[Bill Brown]

Originally Posted by goldedge

Hi guys,
I would prefer that Taupo was not sold into total private ownership.

Having said that if an investor with some good marketing and management skillls was to become involved in order
to modernise market and promote the circuit that could be a good thing for both parties?

Does any one know if the club have considered selling shares to raise capital or perhaps
crowd funding using the internet, it could be that members of other motorsport clubs could be interested
in owning a share to support the track.

I do think that it is probably time that all the nz track owners/managers/clubs started to look at running
their tracks as a modern entertainment business as opposed to a part time hobby operation?

No offense intended but I think something needs to change or the problem is likely to get worse?

Comments welcome.

Really the best option to take over the operation is the Taupo Car Club, they ran it very successfully prior to the upgrade.
Their advantage is that they not only get their income from hire fees but running events as well.
At the moment I presume that the company derives all its income from hire fees and given the logistics of Taupo and the level of debt that would never be enough.
A couple of options to make it more viable could be:
1. TCC buy it and sell off the industrial park to cut the debt level.
2. TCC buy it as a joint venture with the Drag fraternity, remembering that it has a full drag strip and associated facilities.
3. TCC buy it as a joint venture with a consortium of other Car Clubs.
A combination of any of the above might work.
Another issue that might create problems is who owns the land, if it is only leasehold for it would be very difficult to borrow against.
Club owners do not have to be in the area the operation could be run by 2 maybe 3 staff if you get the right people.

[Southern Man]

Originally Posted by Bill Brown

Really the best option to take over the operation is the Taupo Car Club, they ran it very successfully prior to the upgrade.
Their advantage is that they not only get their income from hire fees but running events as well.
At the moment I presume that the company derives all its income from hire fees and given the logistics of Taupo and the level of debt that would never be enough.
A couple of options to make it more viable could be:
1. TCC buy it and sell off the industrial park to cut the debt level.
2. TCC buy it as a joint venture with the Drag fraternity, remembering that it has a full drag strip and associated facilities.
3. TCC buy it as a joint venture with a consortium of other Car Clubs.
A combination of any of the above might work.
Another issue that might create problems is who owns the land, if it is only leasehold for it would be very difficult to borrow against.
Club owners do not have to be in the area the operation could be run by 2 maybe 3 staff if you get the right people.

What he said.

[The Realist]

"This is all very interesting - from my eyes Tony Quinn was approached to buy the Taupo Race Track rather than the other way around, so why is he the bad guy? How come the Taupo Car Club has a 6 figure bank balance when the race track is broke and all of the shareholders appear to have lost all their investment? The only ones making money out of the current situation is the Taupo car club by having basically free use of the track & taking all the profit from meetings run under the clubs umbrella ( which is most of the big meetings ) A "rescue" package is not going to help -will only prolong the enivitable - the bank is going to want its debt repaid sooner rather than later. I also understand that quinn wants to close the track to make it more visually appealing ( i understand this will work around current track bookings where possible) - cant be a bad thing. he also wants to run 4 or 5 meetings a year which i"m guessing ( and hoping ) will include bringing the ozzie super GT series up from Highlands when they are here . ( with the current state of the super tourers etc it would be great to see!!) During the week it will be run as a tourist attraction & weekends will be open for use as normal ."

Found this on Facebook about Taupo track.
Is the Taupo Car Club really part of the problem, rather than the solution?
I'm starting to get confused. I feel sorry for the other shareholders.

[NZSTfan]

I'm in Taupo as we speak and the motel owner is friends with a shareholder. He told me that the deadline for a decision regarding Mr. Quinns offer of $3.2M is at 5pm today. So I wonder what share holders decision is? I hear that the current owners are some $6.5M in the hole through whatever reasons. If they don't accept this offer then one assumes the bank will effectively hold a mortgagee style sale and the figure offered by Quinn could be significantly higher than what the bank could sell it for. Of course it could go the other way to.
He also told me of Tonys grand plans etc which all sound very familiar. One thing of interest from my POV is its claimed that Tony intends to run 2 TCM races, one at Highlands and the other at Taupo. Also mentioned was ultimately running 2 x V8SC races in NZ...as per above for TCM. One in the south with the other in the North. This could only happen if and when SC decide to ditch Pukekohe.
If he gets his way then we will no doubt see wholesale changes to this part of the country with regards to who and what races there. MotoGP is also on the cards as is a 2nd round of AusGT.
He wants nothing to do with any category with less than 25 cars....so thats V8ST and NZV8TC out of the equation for the foreseeable future....
Thats all I have anyway.....

[mikuni]

Sounds ideal.

Just need to know if it will still go out for private hire/play day/TCC etc? If so, where do I sign up?

[Shoreboy57]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

He wants nothing to do with any category with less than 25 cars....s.

There speaks a man who understands the paying customer

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

I'm in Taupo as we speak and the motel owner is friends with a shareholder. He told me that the deadline for a decision regarding Mr. Quinns offer of $3.2M is at 5pm today. So I wonder what share holders decision is? I hear that the current owners are some $6.5M in the hole through whatever reasons. If they don't accept this offer then one assumes the bank will effectively hold a mortgagee style sale and the figure offered by Quinn could be significantly higher than what the bank could sell it for. Of course it could go the other way to.
He also told me of Tonys grand plans etc which all sound very familiar. One thing of interest from my POV is its claimed that Tony intends to run 2 TCM races, one at Highlands and the other at Taupo. Also mentioned was ultimately running 2 x V8SC races in NZ...as per above for TCM. One in the south with the other in the North. This could only happen if and when SC decide to ditch Pukekohe.
If he gets his way then we will no doubt see wholesale changes to this part of the country with regards to who and what races there. MotoGP is also on the cards as is a 2nd round of AusGT.
He wants nothing to do with any category with less than 25 cars....so thats V8ST and NZV8TC out of the equation for the foreseeable future....
Thats all I have anyway.....

FYI.

Stue,

I am told on very good authority that Tony Quinn's offer of $3.6 million was rejected by the vast majority of the shareholders this evening, and further that the sale of the circuit will now be marketed extensively around the world with the cost of the campaign underwritten by several of the larger shareholders. Lets be very clear here Tony was not offering the shareholder's a single cent, his 3.6M offer would be used to pay the bank, and the Taupo City Council out at a very substantial discount on book value, plus an additional $450,000 worth of creditors.

I am also told that The Taupo Car Club's rights were also re-confirmed as being legally enshrined and not able to be extinguished by the Taupo Council nor a liquidator, this means that any new owner has to work with the TTCC.

From my perspective I think its a good result, and if in the end analysis Mr Quinns offer turn's out to be the best on the table, so be it, at least due process will have been followed.

Apparently, last week Mr Quinn warned the Taupo Car club, that as Shareholders if they rejected his first offer, his next offer would be much lower, to which the Secretary of the TTCC allegedly said, so Tony does that mean, we get less of nothing?? LOL.

[littlegrumps]

the offer tabled tonight was turned down as what stu said it not all over yet

[mountainstar]

$3.6 million NZ$ is a tiny offer for a functioning track with buildings like Taupo. One company I worked for that built a basic road course the cost just for the ordinary pavement(not meant for racing) and earthworks was 2 mil US$. If it had been built for racing with a different pavement, added crash barriers, a longer pit lane, some buildings and other infrastructure and then factor in cost of the land, just to do a simple club type road course you'd probably be into it for $10 million, at least. Having been to Taupo, it's probably got nearly as much into it or more, so sorry there Tony but $3.6 million is a pretty cheeky offer. Always worth trying to get something as cheap as you can, especially considering it will need some investment, but .

[socram]

Now you probably understand why, despite running at a profit, TQ's offer to buy Hampton Downs at a fire sale price was also turned down. Nothing wrong with making a low offer. It's called business.

Taupo still needs promoting though, especially by the City Council, with some decent signposting and event information and a public kart track using part of the existing tarseal, to attract people midweek, wouldn't go amiss.

[pukekoheracer]

Now the Share Holders know its worth at least $3.6m. Good of Tony to show his hand so early, before it goes to market.

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by pukekoheracer

Now the Share Holders know its worth at least $3.6m. Good of Tony to show his hand so early, before it goes to market.

Agreed, but for sure TQ's offer was doomed to failure, and thats why the old Board who supported that bid have been effectively tossed out, including the one director that could have and would have made a difference Rick Cooper, but he was not listened to by the old guard.

Rick will probably not want to go back on the restructured Board, but fortunately he has now thrown his financial weight and personal support behind the Taupo Car Club, and they may well end up owning the whole complex back, which might be a very good outcome with the support of people like the Cooper family who are not only wealthy but really passionate about motor racing.

[Bill Brown]

Originally Posted by Mark Petch

Agreed, but for sure TQ's offer was doomed to failure, and thats why the old Board who supported that bid have been effectively tossed out, including the one director that could have and would have made a difference Rick Cooper, but he was not listened to by the old guard.

Rick will probably not want to go back on the restructured Board, but fortunately he has now thrown his financial weight and personal support behind the Taupo Car Club, and they may well end up owning the whole complex back, which might be a very good outcome with the support of people like the Cooper family who are not only wealthy but really passionate about motor racing.

It would be great to see TCC in control again, they ran a very good operation back in the day.

Unfortunately given the debt level (I presume about $3.6m) the logistics of Taupo and the present NZ Motorsport climate that it would be sustainable without a wealthy benefactor to support them.

[bluespur]

will be an interesting time at Taupo over the next few months

I was surprised that anyone was interesting in purchasing the track given the amount of days that TCC have in their agreement and that they use the prime holidays to use them. not much opportunity to put in place some iconic promotions.

the whole place does need a tidy up and so if the club is now taking a greater interest and not simply leaving it to TMP to do then I can see good improvements.

relationships between commercial management and a volunteer club are always a bed of thorns so I sure hope that it will work better in the future.

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by Mark Petch

Agreed, but for sure TQ's offer was doomed to failure, and thats why the old Board who supported that bid have been effectively tossed out, including the one director that could have and would have made a difference Rick Cooper, but he was not listened to by the old guard.

Rick will probably not want to go back on the restructured Board, but fortunately he has now thrown his financial weight and personal support behind the Taupo Car Club, and they may well end up owning the whole complex back, which might be a very good outcome with the support of people like the Cooper family who are not only wealthy but really passionate about motor racing.

For those of us interested in the future of one of our best motor racing facilities here is a summary of how the SMG unfolded.

1. All directors with the exception of Mr Wagstaff had resigned prior to the meeting.

2. Resolution No. 5 was therefore withdrawn and Mr Cooper expressed his support for an alternative plan to preserve shareholder value.

3. The meeting appointed Mr Burns, Chief Executive of Rotorua Energy Consumer Trust as the chairman of the meeting.

4. The meeting was conducted in a cordial, constructive and positive manner with a large turnout of shareholders (in person and by proxy) acknowledging that the board had been through difficult times and that it was time for the shareholders to step up and help.

5. All resolutions that Mr Chris Abbott proposed (and for which he held proxies representing 37.7% of the total shareholding) were carried unanimously viz. resolutions 1-4.

6. The special resolutions to:
- Approve a sale of the company’s assets to Mr Quinn’s company, Keltic; or
- In the alternative, put the company into liquidation;
were withdrawn and were therefore not adopted by the shareholders.

7. Mr Wagstaff’s appointment of Ian Maskell and Chris Abott as directors was endorsed by the shareholders.

8. Ian Maskell and Chris Abbott undertook to the meeting to execute the plan set out in resolutions 1-4 of the notice of meeting within a period of 90 days and submit recommendations to a subsequent special general meeting of the company as contemplated by resolutions 1-4. They also undertook that although not required by the constitution to do so, They would retire by rotation at that subsequent general meeting and depending on the recommendation they made at the time, consider making themselves available for re-election.

A formal Tender process will be handled by Bayly's International

[woodart]

as a casual sealed track spectator, but regular speedway spectator, I am an outsider looking in(so possibly CAN see the wood AND the trees). I have been to taupo for drag racing only but have watched racing on tv from there ,and wasnt impressed with the racing offered. I noticed that they had three goes at rebuilding the track to try and promote better racing ,and more passing, but ,to me, it still isnt a great spectator track. I see on here some people suggest a kart track as an added money maker, and I agree entirely. NZ sealed tracks really need to make the most of their facilities, and activities like rallycross,karting, drag racing , motocross , jetsprinting and speedway should be seriously considered at some ,or all NZ tracks to maximise their land and facilities. manfeild is in financial difficulties(I am local ,so read what debt is there in the local media), and it puzzles and disappoints me that over the years they have had ,and rejected rallycross and jetsprinting.it seems to an outsider like me that NZ sealed track motorsport is in disarray, through no outside influence, but solely through the efforts of the people involved. that is sad.

[MS Fan]

woodart did the article about Manfeild specifically indicate their money problems were with the race track or was it about the complex in general ?

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by socram

Now you probably understand why, despite running at a profit, TQ's offer to buy Hampton Downs at a fire sale price was also turned down. Nothing wrong with making a low offer. It's called business.

Yes, it's not really Quinn's fault that the track is in the position it's in. I'm sure he has to consider his finances including what he feels needs improving and those costs plus leave enough margin so he's not overextended and can turn a profit.

[woodart]

hi ms fan. manfeild park is now one big facility that has over the years swopped land with the A&P assoc and the council and grown from purely a motorsport facility to one that seems to make more money from the ag feild days and horse events. it is hard to say for sure without access to their books but possibly the motorsport side of the complex is held up by renting the track out to toyota and the plod for driver training. in the local media much was made of toyotas influence in keeping the NZgp there as highland park was trying to poach that meeting, and the head of the manfeild park organisation was reported as saying that without the NZgp, manfeild would be facing very hard times.

[Alan Hyndman]

Hi woodart, just a few reasons (from what I understand) as to why jetsprinting ceased at Manfeild:
-Dirty water washing over the track from the jetsprint pond (as the boats did their runs) leaving the track filthy afterwards,
- The risk of cars spinning into the pond (yes, I know it's on the inside of a corner but I'm reliably informed cars do on occasion spin in there - plus when the circuit was used in the reverse direction the pond was on the outside of the exit of the previous corner),
- The cost of hiring the whole circuit to stage a jetsprint (as you can't run a motorsport event at the same time as a jetsprint) was prohibitive,
- Launching and retrieving boats from the pond resulted in more dirt/mud being dragged onto the seal as there was no paving between the launch ramp and the track.
- The pond was a fantastic breeding ground for mosquitos (possibly not an actual reason but now that the pond is gone, not having mozzies there is a good thing).

At a guess, I could imagine the rallycross track would result in more dirt being dragged onto the seal, which would not be at all appreciated by track users and presumably would accelerate wear and tear on the seal. In addition to this, rallycross is a seldom run event, with few competitors and the hiring of the entire track to run a rallycross would again be prohibitive.

Now that the track extension has been walled off, it's possible that jetsprints and rallycross could be held on the back track.

On the subject of Manfeild in general, AFAIK, the staff at Manfeild don't run any events. They rent the place out to car clubs, MotorSport New Zealand, the Feilding IA&P Association, private hirers etc. While the NZGP is a big event, it is just one event that is run by others and I'd be surprised if it really is the difference between the Manfeild Park operation surviving or teetering on the brink of financial disaster. I'd suspect that either the media have not got that quite right or someone has said that to add weight to Manfeild keeping the NZGP.
I believe that Manfeild make a good proportion of their revenue from IA&P shows and good on them if it keeps the place going. While the holding of the Royal Show in December has robbed me of a date that I used to book for motorsport, I can fully understand why Manfeild would want to rent the facility out for a big horsey event instead of an entry level car club event.

Sorry for such a long first post!

[Goat Boy]

Great first post mate