Receivers in control of 15 companies in Elliott group

FIFTEEN COMPANIES in the Elliott construction group are under the control of receivers Kieran Wallace and Cormac O’Connor of KPMG, whom Ulster Bank recently appointed to the business.

The bank took control of P Elliott Company on foot of a €120 million debt. The company laid off staff and ceased operations late last month and was facing wind-up petitions lodged by a number of creditors.

Documents filed with the Companies’ Registration Office (CRO) show that Mr Wallace and Mr O’Connor have taken control of 15 entities in the group, including Elliott Holdings and P Elliott Company, which are the central entities in the organisation.

They have also taken over property development vehicles Hillqueen and Flag Properties (Cavan), which was involved in a mixed used development in Tallaght in Dublin.

Along with those, the receivers have also taken control of a range of operations focused directly on construction activities, such as Elliott Steel Fabricators, Woodskills and AMG Facades.

The documents indicate that P Elliott Company acted as guarantor for Elliott Holdings debts due to Ulster Bank.

Receivers are appointed by banks and other secured lenders to protect their interest.

The group’s other main creditors are Bank of Ireland, the National Asset Management Agency (as a result of the company’s loans with Anglo Irish Bank), Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and ACC.

Sub-contractors are also significant creditors, and are owed more than €20 million.

Accounts for 2009, the last year for which figures are available, show that its building operations made a €10 million profit that year, but the group lost €29 million after being forced to write down the value of its property investments. There were inter-company loans amounting to €65 million. The group is one of the best-known in its industry and its clients included a number of State bodies and agencies.