Powerhouse appoints interim liquidators to Hydroworks

Friday 18th August 2017

ASX-listed, Christchurch-based incubator Powerhouse Ventures secured a High Court order to appoint an interim liquidator to its investee firm Hydroworks, which has been without a board for the past fortnight.

Powerhouse today filed an application in the High Court to appoint interim liquidators to Christchurch-based Hydroworks, and was successful in its application, with David Webb and David Vance of Deloitte appointed, the company said in a statement to the ASX. The incubator, which owns 24 percent of the hydroelectric turbine designer, has been weighing up options to restore administration control to Hydroworks, which it today said was still without a functioning board.

"The interim liquidators' role is to preserve the assets of Hydroworks prior to the appointment of a liquidator, which will take several weeks," Powerhouse general counsel Rachel Triplow said in a statement. "The interim liquidators are required to act independently for the benefit of all creditors."

Earlier this month, Powerhouse said Hydroworks had significant future sales opportunities in Australia and South-East Asia "but first the company will need to stabilise its financial position before further expansion." Powerhouse has since written down the value of the asset to zero.

Hydroworks' woes have taken the sheen off Powerhouse's more successful investment in CropLogic, which successfully raised A$8 million in an initial public offering this week ahead of a planned listing on the ASX.

Powerhouse's ASX-listed shares rose 8.1 percent to 40 Australian cents, having more than halved so far this year. The stock was sold in an initial public offering last year at A$1.07 a share.

(BusinessDesk)

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