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Cape Town - The owner of the Grande Provence estate near Franschhoek in the Western Cape is facing a court order instructing him to pay his former partner $25m in New Zealand.
Lawsuits between the Dutchman Alex van Heeren and Michael Kidd from South Africa have been ongoing since 1996 in various New Zealand and SA courts.
In the most recent episode, the High Court of Auckland, New Zealand, on April 17, issued an interim order against Van Heeren instructing him to pay Kidd $25m within a month, reports Stuff.co.nz.
Van Heeren, who bought Grande Provençe in 2004, according to the winery's website, has been described as a "charismatic" businessman with a (high-flying) luxurious lifestyle in media reports.
According his own website, www.alexvanheeren.com, he serves on the advisory board of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). Sake24, which forms part of Netwerk24 is awaiting confirmation from the USB. He was also the Honorary Consul for Belgium and the Netherlands in New Zealand.
'Indemnity' contract
Van Heeren is the owner of Huka Lodge near Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand and the luxury lodge is part of the dispute.
The $25m is only a preliminary payment as Judge John Fogarty instructed Van Heeren to give an account of all the assets of the partnership worldwide.
According to New Zealand's National Business Review Van Heeren should also contribute to Kidd's legal costs.
Kidd still lives in South Africa and seeks half the value of the empire that they built in the 1970s and 1980s. He allegedly received about $3m.
Pacific Scoop reported that the two were mainly in the steel trade in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Most of their profits have been placed in trusts and top foreign bank accounts.
The pair established the companies Gaynan and Prime NZ to buy assets. Gaynan bought the majority of Huka Lodge and NZ Prime rest.
According Stuff.co.nz guests like Rod Stewart, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Britain, Michael Douglas and Kate Winslet have all been received by Huka Lodge.
The partners are also believed to have interests in Fiji's Dolphin Island, shares in various companies, and own about 32kg of gold.
Van Heeren denies that Kidd has rights to the assets because he signed an "indemnity" contract.
In October 2014, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg declared the indemnity contract invalid because it contains misrepresentations, according to Stuff.co.nz.
When asked for comment Van Heeren said that his lawyers were studying the judgement.
