The High Court will rule on Monday whether or not court protection for the McInerney construction group should continue.
The latest valuations for properties of the group estimate their worth as between €25 million and €30 million, compared with values of €194 million in late 2009.
The court heard the directors of McInerney had themselves written the €194m figure down to €95m when they first applied to go into examinership last September.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke has adjourned to Monday consideration of whether to extend court protection further after yesterday receiving the valuations and other material from examiner William O’Riordan.
The properties at issue are security for a number of bank debts, including €115m owed to a syndicate of three banks, KBC, Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish, who are opposing the continuation of examinership.
Senior counsel Eoin McCullough, for the examiner, told the court the latest valuations by Lisney auctioneers, taking into account third party interests, was between €25m and €30m as against a valuation of €37 million put on the properties a few weeks ago by an independent accountant.
Mr McCullough urged the judge to continue the examinership in order that a survival scheme, involving an investment by US private equity house, Oaktree Capital, could be put in place by the end of next week.
He said the banks opposing the examinership would not be unfairly prejudiced by the continuation of the examinership given that, at best, they now estimated the maximum value they could obtain from the sale of the properties involved, over a long period, was €60m.
Earlier Rossa Fanning, for the three banks, said the court was being treated to a “salami strategy” of examinership where the survival scheme was being unfolded “slice by slice” to the court in a drip feed fashion so Oaktree could buy the McInerney companies at the cheapest price.
Mr Fanning said it was disturbing the new valuation put by Lisney, of between €20m and €30m, showed how much the goalposts had moved since the examinership process began. The scheme of survival before the court was materially different from the one first presented and it should not be allowed to continue, he said.
The court was told another creditor bank, Ulster Bank which is owed €15m, was supporting the survival scheme as was the group of companies.
Five McInerney companies have been under High Court protection from creditors since late August, when Mr O’Riordan was appointed examiner.
Oaktree has been in negotiations with the examiner to take a stake for €40 million in the group, which has businesses in the Republic and in England and is willing to invest €10 million in the Irish operation as part of a rescue plan.