What’s a burnt carpark worth? Depends if you ask KPMG or Deloitte

afr.com:

Adelaide casino owner SkyCity Entertainment is at loggerheads with investment giant Macquarie over how many millions of dollars it must pay to buy back its fire-damaged carpark.

The ASX-listed operator hired Deloitte to work out the value of a carpark concession it must repay Macquarie after missing a crucial handover deadline caused by a 2019 fire at the New Zealand International Convention Centre. The dispute over the amount escalated two months ago when SkyCity launched Auckland High Court proceedings to determine the price it needs to pay.

Firefighters battle flames at SkyCity’s NZICC complex in October 2019. Getty Images

Deloitte claims the carpark concession is worth $NZ187.9 million ($172.6 million). But KPMG, which was commissioned by Macquarie, values the same burnt carpark at $NZ240 million. Court documents show the $NZ52.1 million discrepancy relates to varied interpretations of specific contract clauses by the two consultancies and the firms they represent.

The dispute was escalated to the courts when a process under way with an independent umpire was stalled by a disagreement over the interpretation of the concession agreement.

The case, which is due for trial on September 18 and 19, will do little to settle the concerns of SkyCity investors, who have wiped 9 per cent from the company’s share price since the start of the year.

SkyCity agreed to sell a long-term concession over the car parks to Macquarie for $NZ220 million in 2019. The deal gave the investment giant access to about 3100 car parks and required SkyCity to hand over access by October 22 last year.

But a blaze at the New Zealand International Convention Centre, part of the company’s casino complex, just two months later, caused significant