The holding company behind a network of marinas in Wales has gone into administration leaving uncertainty for its employees.
Administrators from insolvency firm RSM have been appointed to Cardiff-based Marine & Property Group (MPG), whose marina interests, which continue to trade and are not in administration, include those in Cardiff, Burry Port, Aberystwyth and Port Dinorwic.
In a statement, RSM said: "Damian Webb and Chris Lewis (of RSM UK) have been appointed as joint administrators of The Marine and Property Group (MPG). All other group companies are unaffected by the administration and should continue to trade as normal.
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“The administration has been put in place at the holding group level to assist in the on-going refinancing of the group as previously outlined by the director. As you will note from the statement, the other companies within the group are unaffected and it remains business as usual for the marinas. There is no change to berthing contracts or related services.”
Concerns over the Marine & Property Group’s financial situation have been ongoing amid reports that staff had not been paid in full or on time. Earlier this year, MPG director Chris Odling-Smee spoke of plans to raise £35m from a new corporate bond to address cash flow issues.
Mr Odling-Smee said the administration of the MPG was a protective measure to support the delayed capital financing of the holding company. He added that he was assisting the administration process in the hope of raising funds through that same corporate bond to exit the insolvency process.
“This [administration] is at holding level only to protect the business whilst we complete our financing deal. The same deal we’ve been talking about continues and we’re just perfecting the details of that deal,” he said. Mr Odling-Smee declined to elaborate on the origin and details of the bond at this stage.
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When asked whether any reacquisition of the holding company would be a matter for the administrators in agreement with the shareholders, Mr Odling-Smee said: “We’re not looking to buy back the company. We’re just settling the position with the creditors of the holding company only and this is where the collaborative element comes in.”
“I am the principal director and shareholder and I’m working collaboratively on the whole finance deal here,” he said, adding that placing MPG into administration was a joint decision between himself and the administrators.
If successful in securing the funds to take the company out of administration, the director said the group would return to continue trading as before.
Although no time frame for the refinancing of MPG has been given, it is understood a deal to resolve the insolvency of the group must be made soon. One of group’s subsidiary companies, Cardiff Marine Services, has a winding up petition against it from HMRC with a hearing expected next month.
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