Creditors receive few answers on Whitcoulls
Creditors of failed bookstore retailers Whitcoulls and Borders left a packed meeting with the company's administrators with few answers this afternoon.
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Rich List
Creditors of failed bookstore retailers Whitcoulls and Borders left a packed meeting with the company's administrators with few answers this afternoon.
Hundreds turned up to the Ellerslie Convention centre in Auckland for the first creditors’ meeting with the voluntary administrators of Redgroup – owner of the bookstore chains.
Ferrier Hodgson said initial calculations showed the group had $A6.4 million in the bank and $A119 million worth of stock when it took control of Redgroup on February 17. Whitcoulls alone had $2.9 million cash in bank.
Unsecured creditors were owed $A44 million, of which $A21.5 is owed to New Zealand-based creditors.
Creditor committees were formed to help Ferrier Hodgson in its job to assess the groups’ financial position and explore options for its future.
Today’s meeting will be followed by a second meeting later in the month, at which creditors will get a chance to vote on whether the stores continue.
Concern was expressed about the size of Ferrier Hodgson’s fees – charged at $A625 an hour for one of the firm’s partners and $A470 an hour for a senior manager.
“That’s like a QC rate,” said one creditor. “It’s going to eat up a large chunk of what money is left.”
Georgina Bond
Tue, 01 Mar 2011
Tue, 01 Mar 2011
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Creditors receive few answers on Whitcoulls
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