Former JSE-listed construction company Group Five has emerged out of six years of business rescue with all creditors paid and most jobs retained.
Group Five, the former JSE-listed construction group of close to 6,000 employees operating in 38 countries before it struck a debt iceberg in 2019, has come out of business rescue, with all secured creditors paid, while employment has substantially been preserved.
The Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) of Group Five Construction and Group Five Limited, Dave Lake and Peter van den Steen of Metis Strategic Advisors, said on Tuesday the business rescue proceedings of both companies had terminated following the substantial implementation of the adopted business rescue plans.
When business rescue proceedings started in March 2019, Group Five faced about R7 billion in creditor and contingent exposures, more than 2,300 creditors, 119 active construction and engineering projects, and close to 6,000 employees employed in 180 companies.
Independent analysis by PwC at that time calculated that, in the alternative scenario of an immediate liquidation (as opposed to business rescue), secured creditors would have received as little as 65 cents in the rand, and concurrent creditors only 3.4 cents in the rand, with no prospect of any shareholder recovery.
