The full extent of the debts arising from the death of Halliwells was revealed this week. And it makes for pretty unpleasant reading for anyone who is owed money.
As first reported in The Lawyer, BDO - administrators of the defunct firm - have written to creditors noting that the total of all unsecured claims is an impressive £191 million. So that's a bit more than the £14 million unsecured creditors were initially thought to be owed.
During its rake through the smouldering ashes, BDO has revealed that an astonishing £182 million is claimed by real estate creditors. The Spinningfields lease was to run for 25 years - although presumably the landlord will be able to let the offices to someone else to mitigate this. And then there's the £17.7 million owed to state-owned RBS and another £5.5 million owed to the tax man.
No news yet on the money owed to Pavarotti's Sandwich Bar. Regular readers will remember that food was still being ordered from the hapless sandwich makers right up until the (very bitter) end.
But is there any money available to meet these claims? The firms who picked up pieces of the defunct business are expected to contribute a total of £7.4 million. And the sale of the fleet of executive cars made another £200,000. And there'll presumably be no shortage of red-faced suits out there who'll take the corporate seats at Wembley to scoff their prawn sandwiches on expenses.
But it's the legacy equity partners who secretly divvied up most of the £20 million reverse premium from the Spinningfields lease who may be having sleepless nights for the foreseeable future...
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As first reported in The Lawyer, BDO - administrators of the defunct firm - have written to creditors noting that the total of all unsecured claims is an impressive £191 million. So that's a bit more than the £14 million unsecured creditors were initially thought to be owed.
During its rake through the smouldering ashes, BDO has revealed that an astonishing £182 million is claimed by real estate creditors. The Spinningfields lease was to run for 25 years - although presumably the landlord will be able to let the offices to someone else to mitigate this. And then there's the £17.7 million owed to state-owned RBS and another £5.5 million owed to the tax man.
No news yet on the money owed to Pavarotti's Sandwich Bar. Regular readers will remember that food was still being ordered from the hapless sandwich makers right up until the (very bitter) end.
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A bottomless pit of Halliwells debt (artist's impression) |
But is there any money available to meet these claims? The firms who picked up pieces of the defunct business are expected to contribute a total of £7.4 million. And the sale of the fleet of executive cars made another £200,000. And there'll presumably be no shortage of red-faced suits out there who'll take the corporate seats at Wembley to scoff their prawn sandwiches on expenses.
But it's the legacy equity partners who secretly divvied up most of the £20 million reverse premium from the Spinningfields lease who may be having sleepless nights for the foreseeable future...