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Cape Town - The Quoin Rock wine estate in Stellenbosch is no
longer worth buying, because any new owner would become embroiled in legal
battles that could lead to them losing the estate, former owner Dave King said.
The controversial estate is up for sale for the second time,
after a fake auction that failed at the hands of Auction Alliance's now ousted
CEO Rael Levitt, the Weekend Argus reported.
Billionaire businesswoman Wendy Appelbaum, who had tried to
buy the estate for R60m, told the paper that she was no longer likely to buy
the dilapidated 194 hectare estate.
"I really haven't decided whether I am going to make an
offer yet. It may be too difficult to resurrect Quoin Rock and restore it to
its former glory," Appelbaum was quoted as saying.
There is no new auction on the cards, but liquidators have
asked for any offers to buy Quoin Rock to reach them by August 15 in an attempt
to recover some of the R2.7bn tax the SA Revenue Service (Sars) claims is owed
to it.
King reportedly disputed the claims and is currently in a
legal wrangle with Sars.
King, who is also the executive chairperson of Micro Mega
Holdings, has blamed Sars for "destroying Quoin Rock and destroying its
employees' livelihoods", since they had not been paid in years, the report
said.
- Fin24
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