Castlemahon Foods Products, the Co Limerick-based chicken processors with debts of almost €15 million, is to be wound down over the next five to six weeks, the liquidator said yesterday.
Kieran Wallace of KPMG said that, after examining the company's financial status in great detail, he had been left with "no choice" but to commence the wind-down immediately.
Staff and management have already been notified of the decision, which will start with the termination of the production cycle at the main plant in Limerick.
The High Court last week appointed a provisional liquidator to Castlemahon Foods after hearing that attempts by its parent, O'Kane Group, to restructure or sell the business as a going concern following a long period of unprofitable trading had been unsuccessful.
Castlemahon Foods, which operates a feed mill, hatchery and processing plant, recorded a loss of €5.8 million in the year to the end of April, bringing cumulative losses over the past five years to €19.3 million. It employs 300 staff directly and supports the livelihoods of hundreds more chicken growers, making it one of the area's largest employers.
Mr Wallace said he was in "tentative" discussions with a number of potential buyers for elements of the business, but they were at a "very early stage".
