Receivers at Rockwood
Page 22
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The receivers have been called in to Rockwood Holdings following the collapse of a plan to sell off a substantial part of the group. Hong Kong businessman Lee Ming Tee withdrew his proposed 5m loan in the final stages of the rescue package.
Receiver Cork Gully will now try to sell the business as a going concern, but more than 2,000 jobs are now in jeopardy.
Four subsidiaries are up for sale. Rockwood International Freight has the biggest turnover — U115m in 1989 — and a fleet of 124 vehicles. The company is based at Heathrow with a network of 28 freight forwarding depots.
Rockwood Distribution Services specialises in consum ables with a fleet of 300 vehicles: its turnover was £25m last year. Rockwood Fleet Services and Rockwood Secure Distribution are also on the market.
Rockwood Holdings results for 1989 revealed all-too clearly the group's shaky financial state, which chairman Tom Forrest put down to higher than-expected reorganisation costs following acquisitions and poor overall operating performance in the marketplace.
The group was forced to dispose of several subsidiaries, including Higgins Air Agency and Mercury SDS.
The disposals raised £7.4m and followed a hard-hitting rationalisation of Rockwood depots in January with the loss of more than 230 jobs.
Last month Rockwood attempted to build a rescue package to reduce borrowings and keep the group together, but the plan was thwarted when Lee Ming Tee pulled out of the deal.
Rockwood's bankers finally decided to foreclose on the company this week.