A RECEIVER has been appointed to two companies in the McCormick Macnaughton Group, the business behind the Caterpillar machinery brand in Ireland, after they ran into financial difficulties.
Accountant Billy O’Riordan was appointed to McCormick Macnaughton and McCormick Macnaughton Power Services earlier this week by Caterpillar Financial Services, the finance division of the international machinery firm.
The group, which is owned by businessman Malcolm Macnaughton, is the sole distributor of Caterpillar building equipment and power generators in Ireland. It operates branches in Dublin, Lisburn and Cork, with dealers in Donegal, Kerry and Limerick.
A new head office complex was recently built by the group at Aerodrome Business Park at Rathcoole, off the Naas Road in Dublin. It moved there from its well-known premises near the Red Cow roundabout.
Caterpillar Financial Services has committed to paying the wages of the company’s employees for six weeks, staff were told at a briefing on Thursday evening.
The company developed large amounts of office and industrial space at Rathcoole as the property market turned, contributing to the current financial troubles.
Calls to Mr Macnaughton and chief executive Kevin Maughan seeking comment were not returned. Mr O’Riordan could also not be reached for comment.
Speaking in late 2007, the group’s then chief executive Liam O’Dea, who has since left the business, said there was an increase in the rental side of the group’s operations due to “cooling off” in the construction sector, as building firms bought less equipment.
Company filings show that the debts of McCormick Macnaughton are guaranteed by the group’s overall company, Ballymana Holdings, which made a loss of €13 million in 2008 – compared to a profit of €7 million the previous year, as turnover plummeted 35 per cent to €123 million.
The company said in its 2008 accounts that it renegotiated debt facilities, which enabled the group to extend the repayment terms of certain debts due within a year.
“Economic developments, in particular the downturn in the property market, have created uncertainty about the appropriateness of the carrying value of land and properties,” the firm said.
“Because of this uncertainty, no adjustments have been made that would alter the value of this land and properties.”
The group employed an average of 404 people during the year.
