SEVERAL COMPANIES associated with developer Liam Carroll have sought the protection of the High Court after ACC Bank issued demands for the return of €130 million in loans. The court heard Mr Carroll’s Zoe group owes some €1.1 billion to a range of banks.
The application to advertise the petition for protection was made yesterday by Bill Shipsey, for Vantive Holdings.
Vantive Holdings and Jersey-registered Morston Investments Ltd are the parent companies of about 50 companies and are colloquially known as Zoe Developments, the court heard.
Four companies within the group, Villeer Developments, Peytor Developments, Caragh Enterprises Ltd and Parlez International Ltd, are facing demands from ACC for the repayment of €130 million in loans given to them in 2007 and 2008.
Mr Shipsey told Mr Justice Frank Clarke they would be seeking to have an interim examiner appointed to those companies so that a scheme of survival could be put in place as it was believed they could trade out of their difficulties. The court heard the Zoe group has substantial borrowings from various banks, in the order of €1.1 billion.
AIB was the largest lender, accounting for 40 per cent, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) accounted for 26.8 per cent, ACC 10.7 per cent, Bank of Ireland 9.3 per cent, Ulster Bank 6.7 per cent, Anglo Irish Bank 3.1 per cent, and several smaller institutions were owed smaller sums.
While other banks with links to the four companies involved in the matter had come to agreements over restructuring debts, ACC had issued letters of demand due to expire tomorrow, and this meant the bank could apply to appoint a receiver “within hours”, Mr Shipsey said.
The companies’ application was to prevent ACC taking such “precipitative” action until an examiner is appointed, counsel said.
The companies did not have any employees but contracted the services of other companies and did not have cashflow problems or much by way of ongoing liabilities except to the lenders, counsel said.
Under the survival scheme, it was proposed that an arrangement would be made with secured creditors, including ACC, whereby, among a number of measures, interest would be deferred until a business plan was put in place over the next 30 months to sell off a number of developments the group has built.
There would not be any writedown of bank loans, Mr Shipsey said.
Mr Justice Clarke, who noted from court documents if the group was to be liquidated there would be a deficit just below €900 million, ordered advertisements of the petition to appoint an interim examiner be advertised in The Irish Times, Irish Independentand a Jersey newspaper. He made the matter returnable to July 27th.
