Boult buys Cobb & Co and Millbrook's neighbouring land

By Chris Hutching

Friday 5th April 2002

Jim Boult

Queenstown businessman Jim Boult has been on the buy-up trail with the purchase of a 29ha property next to Millbrook Resort in Queenstown and the acquisition of the Cobb & Co restaurant franchise from ailing Wilson Neill Corporation.

The 29ha block next to Millbrook, called Meadowpark, was advertised for sale by tender a few weeks ago, according to Locations Realty's Greg Newman, who said it already holds resource consent for 100 upmarket residential units and had been sought after because of a relative lack of land for residential development.

Mr Boult said from Sydney yesterday the property would be developed in a manner that suited the area and would probably include fewer sites than the 100 possible under the resource consent.

"We'll start developing it straight away and we're working out the most sympathetic configuration given that it's on the rural fringe of Arrowtown."

Mr Boult declined to say how much the property cost but real estate sources believed it may have been just under $2 million. The average price of sections in the Wakatipu basin is just over $100,000 but the properties adjacent to Millbrook are expected to fetch considerably more depending on their individual aspect.

Similarly, Mr Boult declined to reveal the price for the Cobb & Co franchise but a close source believed the price was $1 million and there had been a back up bid of $900,000 from a company believed to be associated with Colin Herbert, a principal of the company in the 1980s and a consultant in recent years. (Other sources suggested the price was $300,000.)

Under the terms of the franchise contract the owner stands to collect fees of $1.6 million a year, which have provided one of the few income streams keeping Wilson Neill afloat during its recent tortured course of technology company acquisitions paid for by share issues.

During Wilson Neill's ownership there has been a hiatus in advertising and promotions. Franchise holders have greeted the purchase with relief and one franchise holder in Christchurch was said to be reconsidering his plans to abandon the brand.

Other partners in the Cobb & Co purchase include Mr Boult's wife, Karen, and Roger Pierce. Mr Pierce was a former director of Shotover Jet, which Mr Boult listed on the Stock Exchange in the late 1980s.

Mr Boult's investment vehicle is Armada Holdings, which last year also bought the Christchurch Gondola from listed New Zealand Experience plus the Christchurch Tramway operations.

Comments from our readers

No comments yet