Claimed to be without precedent, a company owned by Queenstown-based entrepreneur Henry van Asch had the High Court block proposed cancellation of a high-country farm purchase following failure to satisfy contract conditions. This gives Mr van Asch valuable commercial breathing space, voiding the usual legal process of cancellation followed by later legal argument whether cancellation might, or might not, have been legally valid.
Van Asch Ventures Ltd signed in May 2025 to buy Tim Tayler’s Kingston Station Ltd, at Lake Wakatipu, one of South Island’s biggest high-country sheep and beef stations.
Only a small portion of Kingston Station is on freehold title; the rest held on long-term Crown pastoral lease. Consent to any sale was required from the Commissioner of Crown Lands.
The High Court was told consent has been delayed, apparently over plans that Mr Tayler might continue to reside on Kingston Station after the sale.
The sale to van Asch Ventures is conditional on Crown Lands consent by early May 2026. This date came and went with no consent advised, giving grounds for Kingston Station to cancel.
Without giving notice to Kingston Station, Mr van Asch obtained a High Court interim order blocking any attempt to cancel.
When Kingston Station later protested, van Asch Ventures paid $1.6 million dollars into its lawyer’s trust account, as security for any potential damages ruling in favour of Kingston Station.
At a subsequent court hearing, Justice Preston preserved the status quo; ruling both sides legal position is frozen as at the earlier May date by which Crown Lands consent was required.
It is for a later full court hearing to decide whether the sale goes ahead, or is cancelled.
Van Asch Ventures Ltd v. Kingston Station Ltd – High Court (20.07.26)
26.204