117075cs
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
The Star 19<br />
News<br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.<br />
Police exercise $1 buy-back of software<br />
.kiwi<br />
Thursday March 16 2017<br />
NEW ZEALAND Police has<br />
taken up a $1 buy-back option<br />
for software it sold to failed developer<br />
Wynyard Group in 2012.<br />
Assistant commissioner Jevon<br />
McSkimming said in an emailed<br />
statement that the law enforcement<br />
agency had “exercised our<br />
right to buy back the IP rights<br />
for EVE (Environment for<br />
Virtualised Evidence)”. When<br />
Wynyard went bust five months<br />
ago NZ Police was undecided<br />
on whether or not to trigger the<br />
option.<br />
The agency developed the software<br />
in 2007 to help police build<br />
a virtual copy of seized electronics<br />
such as computers and mobile<br />
phones, which can then be<br />
searched without compromising<br />
the original evidence. Police sold<br />
it to Wynyard in 2012, which the<br />
software developer characterised<br />
as commercialising the product<br />
for export markets. No price was<br />
disclosed, though NZ Police’s<br />
2013 annual report, which covered<br />
the period, showed the sale<br />
of intangible assets generating a<br />
$36,000 cash flow.<br />
Wynyard appointed voluntary<br />
administrators last October<br />
when the board decided a $10<br />
million loan from shareholder<br />
Skipton Building Society or raising<br />
new debt or equity wasn’t in<br />
the best interests of the firm, its<br />
shareholders or other stakeholders.<br />
The administrators Neale Jackson<br />
and Grant Graham of KodaMentha<br />
generated just $2.8m<br />
from the sale of assets before<br />
they were appointed liquidators<br />
last month.<br />
The software developer’s insolvency<br />
triggered the NZ Police’s<br />
buy-back right for the intellectual<br />
property and any developments<br />
on the product, though<br />
Wynyard stopped investing in<br />
the digital forensics market in<br />
2016 after an operational review<br />
led to trimming back the business<br />
into two lines.<br />
Police had two contracts with<br />
Wynyard at the time of its failure<br />
INTEREST: Craig<br />
Richardson,<br />
former chief<br />
executive of the<br />
Wynyard Group<br />
– a software licence, maintenance<br />
and hosting agreement,<br />
and IP transfer for the EVE.<br />
Between 2012 and 2016 Wynyard<br />
was paid $7.2m by police, of<br />
which $3.4m was in 2014, former<br />
Police Minister Judith Collins<br />
said in a response to a written<br />
parliamentary question.<br />
Wynyard had won a contract<br />
to supply the Serious Fraud Office<br />
with its investigator product,<br />
however, when faced with significant<br />
technical problems the<br />
white-collar crime investigator<br />
lost confidence in the company<br />
and its services, and terminated<br />
the three-year contract a year<br />
early.<br />
The New Zealand Defence<br />
Force has been a smaller customer<br />
of Wynyard’s with minister<br />
Gerry Brownlee saying the firm<br />
had been paid $47,455 by the<br />
military since 2008.<br />
Korda Mentha’s reports show<br />
Wynyard (NZ), the firm’s local<br />
trading entity, had 108 priority<br />
creditors owed $2.1m as at<br />
February 8, and another 224 unsecured<br />
creditors owed $177.9m<br />
who ultimately voted to liquidate<br />
the group of companies. Wynyard<br />
Group, the parent company,<br />
owed ASB Bank $75,000, and<br />
had $209,000 of cash on hand at<br />
the time of Jackson and Graham’s<br />
appointment in October.<br />
They valued Wynyard (NZ)’s<br />
total assets at $24.9m, of<br />
which $15.9m was attributed<br />
to software assets, and $6m in<br />
related party receivables. Of the<br />
$179.9m in total liabilities, some<br />
$171m was owed to Wynyard<br />
Group, with $6.7m to other unsecured<br />
creditors.<br />
Among the creditors named<br />
in the reports was Callaghan<br />
Innovation, which provided<br />
about $830,000 in research and<br />
development grant funding to<br />
Wynyard. Of that, $681,000 was<br />
outstanding as at January 11<br />
under clawback provisions. NZ<br />
Police was also named as a creditor<br />
of the group.<br />
Wynyard was spun out of<br />
Christchurch’s Jade Software in<br />
early 2013 to free the intelligence<br />
software developer to pursue<br />
what had been rapid growth for<br />
the subsidiary. The IPO raised<br />
$65m for Wynyard, though the<br />
company only kept $26m to fund<br />
its growth ambitions, with the<br />
remainder paying out Jade for<br />
the intellectual property and covering<br />
outstanding debt.<br />
The split also included a services<br />
agreement where Wynyard<br />
would pay Jade for the sale and<br />
support of licences, managed<br />
services, development, consulting<br />
services and administrative<br />
support. The other leg of the deal<br />
would see Jade buy development<br />
services from Wynyard.<br />
– NZ Herald<br />
Baileys<br />
700ml<br />
$29.99<br />
Jim Beam<br />
1 Litre<br />
$39.99<br />
Jack Daniel’s<br />
700ml<br />
$39.99<br />
Dewar’s<br />
1 Litre<br />
$35.99<br />
Jamesons<br />
1 Litre<br />
$47.99<br />
Tanquerey<br />
Gin 1 Litre<br />
$47.99<br />
Riverstone<br />
Range<br />
$9.99<br />
Mudhouse<br />
Range<br />
$12.99<br />
exc Pinot Noir<br />
Becks<br />
12 Pack<br />
$21.99<br />
64 Warrington Street Phone 385-1111<br />
Billy Maverick<br />
12 Pack<br />
$20.99<br />
Marlborough<br />
Vodka 700ml<br />
$27.99<br />
All specials valid until 31st of<br />
March or while stocks last. Only<br />
at Warrington liquor centre.<br />
‘LIKE’ us on<br />
facebook to<br />
keep up with our<br />
latest deals and<br />
facebook only<br />
giveaways!<br />
facebook.com<br />
/warringtonliquor
Change language