Mark Hotchin

Mark Stephen Hotchin
Born (1958-12-25) 25 December 1958 (age 65)
NationalityNew Zealander
OccupationProperty developer
Known forFounding finance company Hanover Finance and its high profile demise in 2010
SpouseAmanda
Children3[1]

Mark Stephen Hotchin (born 25 December 1958)[2] is a New Zealand former property developer and financier. He was a director of the failed Hanover Group which owned a number of finance companies including Hanover Finance, United Finance, Nationwide Finance and FAI Finance.

The Hanover Group[3] also had interests in property and was responsible for developing Matarangi Beach Estates and golf course, and acquired completed lots at the Jacks Point property sub-division[4] in Queenstown. The Group also had property and finance interests in Australia.[5]

With Eric Watson he bought 30 per cent of Elders Finance in 1999 and in December that year bought it outright. Elders Finance became the core of what would become Hanover Finance. Two years on, their other finance and investment assets (Nationwide Finance, Leasing Solutions, Elders Home Loans and Hanover Securities) were rolled in to create Hanover Group with reported assets of $650m.[2]

The flow on effects of the financial crisis of 2007–08 and nervous reaction of investors lowered overall confidence in the market and saw over 50 finance companies in New Zealand fail by 2010. Hanover applied to the trustee for a repayment freeze or moratorium rather than a receivership.[6] After the repayment freeze Hanover prepared a debt repayment plan, offering to repay investors over a 5-year period. As part of the plan, Hotchin and Watson pledged $96 million of assets.[6] These assets fell in value as property prices declined.[7]

Hotchin arranged for Allied Farmers to take over the failing business, but the losses overwhelmed the new owner and the business was put into liquidation in 2010. In December 2011 the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) announced that it proposed to file civil proceedings against Hotchin and the other directors and promoters of Hanover.[8]

  1. ^ "Hotchin: I may never return". The New Zealand Herald. 5 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b Taylor, Phil (19 February 2011). "Mark Hotchin: The man behind the money". New Zealand Herald.
  3. ^ "Net profit up 20% for Hanover Finance". Scoop. 11 March 2007.
  4. ^ Hutching, Chris (12 December 2008). "Spring thaw at Jacks Point?". National Business Review.
  5. ^ Freeman, Glenn (14 September 2006). "Hanover profit linked with boosted Australian loan book". Money Management. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Hanover plan too optimistic – experts". The Dominion Post. 21 November 2011.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Better_Deal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "FMA to file civil proceedings against directors and promoters of the Hanover group" (Press release). Financial Markets Authority. 15 December 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2012.