Poolrite administrator calls creditors’ meeting
SV Partners will update Poolrite Australia Pty Ltd creditors on Tuesday October 23 at 11am at The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Level 32, 345 Queen Street Brisbane. There will be an earlier Poolrite Research Pty Ltd creditors’ meeting at 10am.
The meeting will include an update on their discussions with Evolve Composites regarding the licensing agreement to ensure it is in the best interests of creditors.
In a statement, SV Partners said: “Prior to the voluntary administrators’ appointment, Poolrite Australia Pty Ltd had entered into a Heads of Agreement with Evolve Composites Pty Ltd which detailed a proposed licensing agreement for Evolve to manufacture, market and distribute the company’s Magnapool product range of swimming pool equipment and associated products.”
They are currently liaising with Evolve to review the agreement to ensure that it is in the creditors’ interests.
“If it potentially gets to a point where we would finalise a licensing agreement, the monies would come through me as administrator of Poolrite Australia Pty Ltd,” says David Stimpson of SV Partners.
Poolrite’s debt is estimated at approximately $14.3m, including secured debt of $8m with Westpac and $1.1m with Commonwealth Bank of Australia; unsecured debt of $3.8m; and estimated employee entitlements of $1.4m including termination and redundancy payments and superannuation.
“Most staff have been terminated and have been given GEERS contact email address,” Stimpson says. However, the staff will only be paid by GEERS if Poolrite goes into liquidation.
“If someone at the creditors’ meeting puts up a proposal for a deed of company arrangement, that proposal must include an arrangement for the employees entitlements to be paid in full,” he says.
“If that is not accepted, the company will go into liquidation and the employees will be paid by GEERS. One way or the other, the staff will get paid: it’s just a matter of how.”
In a statement, SV Partners said that during the period of the voluntary administration they will be:
1) Investigating whether there are any parties interested in purchasing the companies’ businesses and/or assets.
2) Continuing negotiations with Evolve regarding the heads of agreement and potential purchase of various company assets.
3) Investigating the director’s ability to propose a Deed of Company Arrangement to the companies’ creditors which would ensure a higher return to creditors than if the companies were liquidated.
The meeting will also consider the election of a committee of creditors (possibly including five members), whether an alternative administrator should be appointed and will also allow creditors to discuss the affairs of the company and the results of the administrator's investigations to date.
Creditors may also consider whether the administrators should be at liberty to apply for an extension of the 20-business-days convening period for the second meeting for a period of up to 45 days, if circumstance arise which warrant such an application.
