IT has lasted just 23 years. Following the appointment of a receiver, Mr Tom Grace of Price Waterhouse, and the sale of its Irish properties, Power Corporation is now about to be dismembered.

It is the end of an era for a company which had rather humble origins but managed to spread its wings to become an international property group. That is until high borrowings, and questionable partners, brought it to its knees.

The Irish properties - the Powerscourt Town Centre, in Dublin, and the Queens Old Castle and Savoy Shopping Centre in Cork - will remain intact, following their sale to a consortium led by former chairman and managing director, Mr Tony Leonard. All the others, which are mainly in the US, are likely to be sold.

Under normal circumstance, the sale of the Irish portfolio it accounts for only 8 per cent of the group's portfolio - to a director would have had to be sanctioned by the shareholders.

The shareholders could, of course, legitimately ask why the properties were not put out to tender, so as to ensure that the best price is received. That view point could have more relevance as the consideration has not been disclosed.

However, the legal requirement of seeking approval was side stepped when Mr Leonard resigned before making an offer. Also, and more importantly, the shareholders, as the last in the queue to receive anything hack in a receivership, never had any prospect of a payment. That is clear from the estimated deficit of £70 million to £80 million in its net worth. Indeed, the only creditors capable of losing out - if the price paid by Mr Leonard was too low - are the unsecured bank creditors who are owed £100 million (the secured creditors are owed a further £90 million). But they have agreed to the terms, so they must be satisfied that consideration equated to the market value.

However, the buy out of the Irish properties, backed by venture capital funds, is not going to provide a great bonanza for the investors, unless, of course, they paid very little for the properties. Buy outs, backed by venture capitalists, tend to be highly leveraged. They also tend to work only if the business being acquired is under valued and/or is in a recovery mode, and/or is a substantial cash generator.

That is why the Xtra vision deal turned out so lucratively for the investors and the venture capital backers. In a two year period, Xtra vision was able to generate sufficient free cash to pay off all (or virtually all) the debt and pay dividends considerably higher than the original equity investment. Then when Blockbuster, the US video rental giant, acquired Xtra vision, for around £20 million, virtually all of that consideration was clear profits for the shareholders.

Another was European Leisure, though it did not start with venture capital. Instead, its consortium of banks was left holding a hot potato but a restructuring package looked very much like a venture capital operation. Here, a recovery and a good generation of cash flow, allowed the company to pay off the banks handsomely.

Power's case is different. It receives rental income on the properties. This would have to be sufficient to service any loans and also pay the running costs.

But the greatest potential is in increasing the occupancy rate. Starved of working capital, necessary refurbishing was neglected. Property sources say the Powerscourt Town Centre needs to spend around £500,000 to bring it up to scratch. It is understood that the new owners will spend around that sum.

Keeping the Irish properties as one unit protects the 32 Irish jobs. While there is an upside potential for the investors, including the unidentified British venture capital group, which controls most of the equity, the deal does not have the ingredients to provide them with any great bonanza.

And what about an exit mechanism? Why not paint up the centres, increase the occupancy, and the rental income, and then sell them off as a unit?