A line has been drawn under 99 years of history for the Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre, which will be formally wound up following orders made in the High Court.
An interim liquidation, made late in 2018, was made final in the High Court at Wellington on Tuesday. The associate judge making the order noted it was the end of an era.
"It's rather sad," Judge Kenneth Johnston said.
Lawyer Steve Flynn replied: "Yes sir, 99 years of history in this thing and there's a little bit for the liquidators to do."
Outside court, Flynn said the liquidators would now work out how to best realise the assets of the Wairarapa-based training centre, and what could be preserved.
The liquidators are due to make their first report into the affairs of the centre in six months.
Taratahi has campuses across the country. The liquidation is expected to affect 250 jobs and perhaps 2850 students.
Taratahi board chairwoman Mavis Mullins said previously that it was the most responsible decision to protect the current and future position of its staff, students, creditors and other key stakeholders.
In 2014, Taratahi was ordered to pay back $8.6 million it had been paid for courses it failed to deliver. In May 2018, the Tertiary Education Commission said half had been paid back.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers financial report on Taratahi revealed the extent of its debt leading up to the December interim liquidation.
It failed to attract as many students as hoped in 2018, increasing the amount it had to pay the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) for not delivering the services promised and further compounding its problems.
According to the PwC financial appraisal produced for the TEC and Ministry of Education, the institution was carrying $6m from 2018, as well as the $4m for the past under-delivery.
It also owed $12.6m to Westpac Bank and was looking at selling Mangarata farm in Wairarapa.
However it also had $42m of assets on its balance sheet as at September 2018. It was predicted to add another $1.1m debt in 2019.
Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre Trust Board was established as a body corporate under the Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre Act 1969.
It is registered as a charitable entity, a public entity and a private training establishment under various acts.
"Taratahi has a complex corporate and legislative structure that creates a major constraint on available future options for the organisation," the report said.
In July 2017, Taratahi took over Lincoln University's Telford Division at Balclutha in South Otago.
The Southern Institute of Technology proposed taking over as tertiary provider for that agricultural training institution.