By Clyde Mooney
In response to a national newspaper’s coverage, Laundy Hotel Group (LHG) has denied it is in financial trouble.
After reports that a $40m investment in National Leisure & Gaming (NLG) had gone south with the recently appointed receivers, LHG expressed outrage at the un-sanctioned and un-warranted speculations in a Daily Telegraph article last week.
"The (NLG) move is bad news for the family of pub king Arthur Laundy, which has been one of the biggest losers from the company's financial troubles," said the piece, which ran under the headline, 'Money troubles for pubs with no cheer'.
"The family sank $40 million into the company to prop it up last year, giving it a 14 per cent stake and a seat on the board for son Craig," it continued.
With concerned friends and investors calling in from around the country, Arthur Laundy and sons Craig and Stuart, were all overseas at the time of last Friday’s article.
Having now returned, Stuart Laundy told TheShout that the report was greatly exaggerated.
“The Laundy family investment in NLG was less than a quarter of the figure suggested in the Telegraph, and it included profits from leases sold into the company at the time,” he said.
When asked to comment on the speculation that the losses amounted to trouble for LHG, Laundy replied: "This is but one of a number of investments my family are involved in, and par for the course when you are entrepreneurial by nature."