Lotus in Winding-up Petition

[cameronpoe]

Are Lotus in insolvency proceedings? If Renault dont buy the shares but just the assets of the Company then the Company would receive funds for the assets, these funds would belong to the Company as the funds will not equate to the debt then at that point the Directors of Lotus would need to appoint administrators if there is no desire from the Shareholders to maintain the company as a going concern. The Administrator is bound to rescue as much as possible for the creditors and will then look at how the Directors have negotiated the sale to Renault to see if this was in the best inTerests of creditors or shareholders!, I would be surprised if Renault have not bought the entity of Lotus including the shares or are about to do so, even if this means the company (Lotus) goes through a quick pre-pack administration just to make sure all the legals are tied up they can then put the company into the ground and transfer the assets to new co and probably get some balance sheet write offs etc, it is almost certain that if some creditors are going to get a big haircut (?) then they will challenge the process and Renault will be seen as a company with deep pockets by a sitting judge I guess and as it is also owned partly by the french state it has all manner of ethical decisions etc to consider.

[djinvicta]

Not gone bust in the Courts yet to answer you..
But Experian reckons tonight..

New accounts appear to be overdue.

There is a deficit in both capital employed and shareholders funds.

There has been a very heavy trading loss in the latest accounting period.

There has been a very significant fall in shareholders' funds over the latest accounting period.

In our view this company is a very high credit risk. We therefore recommend you make full & detailed enquiries before offering credit. Add to monitoring list.

[djinvicta]

And if you look back a few pages on here..

Lotus F1 have a net worth of -110 million
And working capital of -153 million.
OUCH..
Cannot see Renault clearing the debt as I've said..

[cameronpoe]

I have never seen any Lotus accounts but those numbers you are quoting will include loans from the Shareholders.

[djinvicta]

Any shareholder loans will not take precedence over HMRC and preferred creditors!

[cameronpoe]

Which is why Renault will buy the Company and the shareholders take a haircut.

[djinvicta]

I think if you read back, trade debtors alone are 100 million. Shareholders and Directors come under a different accounts classification: ie, director loan accounts etc.
Then pay back the capital....Banks etc...153 million

[Mike Harte]

Renault officially confirmed in the High Court today that they have finally concluded the takeover of Lotus on Friday, and that creditors will have been paid today. This included HMRC that were seeking at least £2.7 million in tax payments going back to June, July and August. This allowed the winding-up request to be withdrawn.

The details of the new structure will be announced during January and February, but it looks as though the team's engineers and technicians can have a peaceful Christmas; a nice pressie for them, and well deserved.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Renault officially confirmed in the High Court today that they have finally concluded the takeover of Lotus on Friday, and that creditors will have been paid today. This included HMRC that were seeking at least £2.7 million in tax payments going back to June, July and August. This allowed the winding-up request to be withdrawn.

The details of the new structure will be announced during January and February, but it looks as though the team's engineers and technicians can have a peaceful Christmas; a nice pressie for them, and well deserved.

What tortuous and twisted saga the whole thing's been.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Possibly the purchase price is a nominal £1, with Renault assuming all the debts apart from the loans to Genii. That would make some sense, rather than the creditors having to rely on Genii to pay them when they got the money from Renault.

This scenario appears to have been confirmed; Renault paid just £1 to Genii for a 90% stake in the team, with Genii holding the remaining 10%. Renault have assumed all the debts except for the loans of £98.2 million from Genii which have been waived. I bet that that smarted for investors in Genii !

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/re...am-664965/?s=1

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

This scenario appears to have been confirmed; Renault paid just £1 to Genii for a 90% stake in the team, with Genii holding the remaining 10%. Renault have assumed all the debts except for the loans of £98.2 million from Genii which have been waived. I bet that that smarted for investors in Genii !

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/re...am-664965/?s=1

Mind you when Genii bought it off Renault I think it cost them a similar amount but debt free.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Mind you when Genii bought it off Renault I think it cost them a similar amount but debt free.

Is that so, though? I thought that Genii were in competition with David Richards (Pro-drive) about the purchase, unless, of course, Richards offered even less than a pound? Maybe he asked Renault how much they would pay him to take it off their hands!