The liquidators of Arrow International are working through almost 500 claims from unsecured parties who say they’re owed about $46 million from the failed building company.
BDO’s Andrew Bethell, Andrew McKay and Colin Gower said employee wages of $730,000 and a tax bill of $553,000 were settled before their appointment as liquidators to the Arrow International entities.
Since their June appointment, $1.5 million has been paid to subcontractors of $4.5 million held in trust, with the balance held until projects are completed.
The firm’s directors and shareholders called in BDO as voluntary administrators in February when tough trading conditions were compounded by a $4.5 million Building Disputes Tribunal decision that went against it.
Bethell, McKay and Gower were appointed liquidators after a creditors’ meeting in June. The liquidators said they were assessing the near-500 claims received and expect to complete that before their next six-monthly report.
“However, initial indications are that accepted claims will be materially lower due to a number of factors including a number of principal and subcontractor claims submitted being out of date with reference to the outcome of projects they have been involved with,” they said in their second report on the liquidation.
In their initial report as administrators, Bethell, McKay and Gower estimated there would be 826 unsecured creditor claims of about $39.3 million.
The first report estimated Arrow’s assets at $43.8 million, of which $15.7 million was in accounts receivable, $13.2 million from investments in subsidiaries, and $7.9 million from related-party debts.
At that time, the liquidators estimated $40 million would be available for unsecured creditors.
