International lessors are still fighting to recover some £70m
from former lessee Global EPP, despite a sale of the company last
month to German company Schwartz.
Colin Haig, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountant jointly handling
the administration of the plastics moving manufacturer, said: “We
will fully complete the process of realisation before distribution
[of Global EPP assets] takes place.”
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Global EPP entered administration last November owing
considerable debts to an array of sales finance and leasing
companies. Creditors include Bank of Ireland, owed £6.7 million;
Landsbanki Commercial Finance, owed £6.4 million, and Svenska
Leasing, chasing £6.3 million.
Some of the assets were dissipated to the United States where at
least one lessor, Caterpillar Financial Services, has recovered
most of its assets.
On August 20, administrators completed the sale of Global EPP to
Schwartz, a manufacturer of tailor-made engineering plastic
components based at Xanten in the Lower Rhine region. Global EPP
will be managed as a separate business entity and will consolidate
the group’s activities in the stock shape business under the Global
EPP brand.
Haig stated there are “various other transactions to parties as
yet unascertained”.
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By GlobalDataHe added: “We have got deals to do.”
It is understood PwC selected Schwartz back in April. The
administrator also recently sold shares in Global EPP’s
subsidiaries in Mexico and the Philippines, although this only
raised £25,072. Some £164,000 was also raised from the sale of book
debt from this Philippines subsidiary.
Haig and his team have been looking into the possibility of
selling a joint venture between Global EPP and a Russian entity. In
addition, it is understood between November and May this year £3m
has been raised from selling Global EPP stock, and £103,000 has
been recovered from the sale of a boat.
However, less has been recovered from the sale of plant and
machinery – in June, for instance, only £8,000 had been raised.
Meanwhile, PwC is also chasing money owed by a former division
of Global EPP called Nylacast Ltd and Nylacast LLC.
Still believed to be unresolved is whether Venture Finance will
get any money ahead of other creditors because of a floating
charge, which means it may have a claim, over and above the
creditor lessors if they cannot prove title to their asset. Some
£1.3 million has been paid out to Venture Finance, a subsidiary of
ABN AMRO, it is understood.
