Liquidator appointed to construction group Roadbridge

A liquidator has been appointed to Limerick-based construction contractor Roadbridge by the High Court.

Roadbridge was a well-known company that was placed into receivership in March at the request of its largest creditor. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was one of Ireland’s largest construction firms with revenues of €262 million in 2020.

Receivers took control of Roadbridge in March as it emerged that the builder could owe at least €40 million to sub-contractors and suppliers. The company employed 630 people in the Republic, UK and Sweden, with large numbers of sub-contractors also caught in the fallout.

Roadbridge owes about €35 million to Bank of Ireland, but has trade liabilities said to be about €40 million, owed mostly to sub-contractors, suppliers and other businesses.

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Many of the trade debts are substantial. At least one supplier is owed more than €1 million, insiders have said.

Andrew O’Leary of Interpath Advisory was appointed liquidator on Monday. The petition to appoint a liquidator was brought by two unsecured creditors of Roadbridge, with the support of five further creditors of the company.

Interpath said the immediate priority of the liquidator will be to determine and realise any assets available for the benefit of creditors, while also seeking to undertake any investigations as part of his statutory duties.

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Roadbridge Holdings accounts for 2020 show it owed €60 million to trade creditors at the end of that year, against €44 million 12 months earlier. Trade liabilities can vary widely from year to year.

Bank of Ireland holds securities over many of Roadbridge’s assets, giving it the right to appoint receivers to recover its debts.

Founded in Limerick in 1967 by the Mulcair family, Roadbridge civil engineering and construction group is best known for its work on motorways and State projects.

It built Dublin Airport’s new north runway jointly with FCC and was one of several companies involved in the construction of the Limerick tunnel.

Roadbridge has building contracts worth a total of €750 million over the next two to three years.

Roadbridge specialises in large projects worth tens or possibly hundreds of millions of euro each. Insiders said that it has traded on very tight profits, between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent, leaving little room for error or unforeseen risks.

Interpath Advisory established its footprint in Ireland in June with the hire of managing director of Andrew O’Leary from KPMG. Since then, it has grown to a team of over 15 professionals, with offices in Dublin, Cork and Belfast providing a suite of restructuring, insolvency and forensic services.

In the months ahead, the firm will welcome five new managing directors, with plans to expand its team to over 50 professionals by the second quarter of 2023.