Redgroup unsecured creditors in NZ owed $21.5m

Wednesday 2nd March 2011

Unsecured creditors in this country of Australian company Redgroup Retail, whose activities include 90 book stores in New Zealand, were owed $21.5 million when the company went into voluntary administration a fortnight ago.

In a presentation to a meeting of New Zealand creditors in Auckland yesterday, administrators Ferrier Hodgson also said entitlements of employees in this country at the time had been $2.1 million, with the company having 1171 New Zealand staff.

Redgroup Retail activities in this country include Borders, Whitcoulls and Bennetts stores, while in Australia it has Borders and A&R stores.

A meeting of creditors was also held yesterday in Australia, with unsecured creditors across the Tasman owed A$25.5 million (NZ$34.6 million) and employee entitlements at A$4.3 million.

RedGroup is controlled by private equity group PEP.

One of the administrators, John Melluish, who chaired yesterday's meeting in Auckland, said he was confident Redgroup's New Zealand assets would sell as a going concern, The New Zealand Herald reported.

The assets in this country performed much better than those in Australia, he said.

Ferrier Hodgson is to prepare a report on Redgroup for a watershed meeting of creditors in five weeks' time.

NZPA

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