Provisional liquidators have been appointed to the company behind home improvement and gardening retailer Homebase in Ireland, which the High Court heard has suffered a UK and Ireland-wide “collapse”.
Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy made the appointments after satisfying himself that HHGL (ROI) Limited, trading as Homebase, is insolvent.
He was told the Irish company employs 178 workers in its eight Irish stores.
The winding-up petition was presented to him by barrister Declan Murphy, on behalf of the company’s directors.
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Mr Murphy said the UK Homebase companies are entering administration and a potential buyer has been identified for these.
The Irish company is being dealt with separately, and its directors do not believe it meets the conditions for entering an examinership restructuring process due to its financial state, said Mr Murphy.
The petition was being presented on the basis of insolvency but also because there is “no other course of action”, he said.
He said there are aspects of the Irish company which “may be capable of future operation” for the benefit of creditors and employees.
The provisional liquidators can look into a potential sale in short order and to deal with any employee concerns which may be “heightened” by hearing the news of the “UK and Ireland-wide collapse of the business”, he said.
He said he sought the appointment of Damien Murran and Enda Lowry, of Teneo Restructuring, as a “matter of urgency”.
Mr Justice Mulcahy was satisfied he could make the appointments and give the provisional liquidators the powers sought by the company directors. The petition is due to return to court in early December.
In their petition, the company’s directors say the group cannot secure further funding from lenders and cannot get support from its immediate parent as it intends to “imminently” file a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
They said the company recorded a €1 million loss for the period ending January 1st, 2023, compared to a profit of €824,000 for the period a year earlier.
In the first 43 weeks of the 2024 financial year, the company achieved sales of €33.2 million but made a €1.1 million loss and had net liabilities of €8.4 million, they said.
The company has eight stores, including two in Dublin (Nutgrove and Santry), and one in Sligo, Letterkenny, Portlaoise, Navan, Drogheda and Waterford.
Its Limerick store closed in October 2022 to save costs.
The company underwent an court-protected examinership process in 2013 and a scheme of arrangement was found to allow it to continue to trade, they said.
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