Applying to the High Court to restore a company
What happens when you apply to restore a company
If you restore your company to the Companies Register through a successful application to the High Court, you need to submit the court order to us before your company can be reinstated.
Making a High Court application
You can apply to the High Court to restore a company under Section 329 of the Companies Act 1993 if at the time the company was removed:
- the company was carrying on business or a proper reason existed for the company to continue in existence
- the company was a party to legal proceedings
- the company was in receivership or liquidation
- you're a creditor, shareholder or a person who had an undischarged claim
- you believe that there exists and intend to pursue, a right of action on behalf of the company under Part 9 of the Companies Act 1993
- for any other reason it is just and equitable to restore the company.
Who can apply to the High Court
You can apply to the High Court if at the time the company was removed, you:
- were a director or shareholder of the company
- were a creditor of the company
- were a party to legal proceedings against the company
- had an undischarged claim against the company
- were a liquidator or a receiver of the company.
If a company has been liquidated
If the liquidator has filed the final report and the company has been removed from the register, you must apply to the High Court to restore the company to the register. At the same time, ask the High Court to cancel the liquidator's final report. Cancellation re-opens the liquidation and allows the liquidator to continue in office.
Submitting your High Court order to the Registrar
If your application to the High Court is successful, you must submit the High Court order to us. You can do that online, or by post or email.
How to submit a High Court order online
To submit a High Court order online, you must:
- have a RealMe® login
- be a registered user of the Companies Register
- have authority to act for your company.
Log in to your online services account and follow these steps.
- Search for the company using the company name, company number or New Zealand Business Number (NZBN).
- Check that your account details are up to date and complete, including your email address. We'll send emails about your application to the address attached to your account.
- Select My tools, then Lodge other documents.
- Tell us who is making the application — whether you're making it yourself or on behalf of your employer.
- Select Court order from the drop-down menu of document types.
- Select Browse or Choose file to upload your High Court Order.
- Select Submit.
How to submit a High Court Order by post or email
The signed and sealed court order can also be sent to:
Companies Office
Private Bag 92061
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1042
Email: compliance@companies.govt.nz
How we process your application
When we receive the signed and sealed High Court Order we restore your company immediately. We don't need to give public notice.
You'll receive an email from us to confirm that we've restored the company to the Companies Register on the day we received the order.
Other guides in
Restoring a company to the register
- Before you apply to restore a company
- Applying to the Registrar to restore a company
- Reasons and evidence for restoring a company