GOLDMAN SACHS has been hired by Mouchel to advise the troubled engineering firm on how to tackle its £90m debt.
The investment bank is understood to be considering all options, including a debt-for-equity swap that would wipe out existing shareholders and hand ownership of the firm to its lenders.
Sources said Goldman is also mulling a break-up and sale of the business, as well as possibly issuing new shares to raise cash and pay down borrowings.
Glynn Thomas, former corporate development director at VT Group, has been drafted in to help Grant Rumbles, Mouchel’s chief executive, with strategy. A source said Thomas would be advising Rumbles on the possible sale of the firm. He spent a long time examining Mouchel while he was at VT, which failed in an attempt to buy the rival engineer.
Mouchel was forced into rescue talks with its main banks — Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland — last year after a huge profit downgrade following the discovery of a black hole in its accounts. An actuarial error on pensions led to it overestimating profits on a job by £4.3m, and it said that aggressive accounting on some contracts meant it would need to set aside another £4.3m.
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The shares have fallen 88% in the past year. Mouchel declined to comment.