Tag Archives: Ennstone Group

Ennstone Thistle and other subsidiaries sold as going concerns as Ennstone Group goes into administration

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Ennstone Group has announced that it has sold its UK and Polish subsidiaries – to Breedon Holdings Ltd, a company backed by Barclays Ventures and a number of other financial institutions. The sale – for an undisclosed amout,  is not expected to result in any return to shareholders.

However, since the subsidiaries were understood to be trading steadily, their sale as going concerns to a stable buyer is good news for Argyll. It will be welcomed in the communities of Benderloch, Bonawe, Dunbeg and Furnace where Ennstone Thistle operates local quarries.

The sell-offs were made following the appointment as Joint Administrators for Ennstone Group of business restructuring partners, Nick Dargan and Matthew Cowlishaw of Deloitte LLP. This was done on 9th March.

At the same time the company applied to the UKLA and London Stock Exchange to cancel Ennstone plc’s listing on the London Stock Exchange with immediate effect.

The Group’s UK banking syndicate had maintained its support for the company as it struggled over the past eight months to to achieve a solvent restructuring through asset sales and attemnpts to raise new equity.

The deteriorating market conditions defeated its restructuring efforts, making its descent into administration and Stock Market delisting inevitable.

The Board of Ennstone plc have now said: ‘The Group has been facing the most challenging economic conditions for decades which have reduced operational performance. These conditions have also prevented the Group from raising the further financing it needed or from realising disposals at prices which could have resoved the Group’s financial problems. The sale of the UK and Polish subsidiaries has secured the jobs of over 1,000 of the Group’s employees’.

Matthew Cowlishaw, Joint Administrator, says: ‘The slowdown in the house building and infrastructure sectors along with the lack of funding for potential acquirers has played a significant role in the Group’s difficulties. Securing a going concern sale of the UK and Polish subsidiaries, whihc will protect over 1,000 jobs, is positive news for the employees and the industry as a whole’.

Ennstone loses another director

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In its fight to survive in the current recession, Ennstone Group have just announced that Mr. Eric Gadsden has informed the Board of his decision to resign as a non-executive director of Ennstone with immediate effect.

Ennstone Group’s susidiary, Ennstone Thistle – itself trading with no great difficulty – operates four Argyll quarries with a vested interest in the health of the parent company.

Ennstone Group sell more US assets

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The Ennstone Group, whose Scottish subsidiary, Ennstone Thistle, operates four Argyll quarries (at Benderloch, Bonawe, Dunbeg and Furnace), has now sold more of its assets in the USA. The company’s shares were suspended on the London Stock Exchange on 28th January. It has now said that Ennstone Inc, its American company, sold the trade and assets of its ready mixed concrete businesses located in Charlottesville and Elkton, Virginia, to Wilson Ready Mix LLC for US$3.1 million in cash on 20th February.

Following this sale, Ennstone Inc. will be required to repay approximately US$0.95 million of outstanding Industrial Revenue Bonds and finance leases related to certain of the Assets.

At 31st December 2008, the assets now sold had a net book value of US$4.6 million. In the financial year ended 31st December 2008, these assets generated a loss of US$0.55 million. Ennstone Inc. is understood to be currently negotiating with its US lenders as to how the proceeds of this asset sale, which will be retained in the US, will be applied.

Another setback for Ennstone – and for their Argyll quarries

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Ennstone Group has announced that the discussions it has been engaged in over a possible offer for the Group have been terminated and that the Group is consequentlty no longer in an offer period. This development sees one of the Group’s options closed down. For Argyll is keeping a watching brief on this situation and will report when there is more news.

The hope for Argyll is that the Group’s subsidiary, Ennstone Thistle, operator of its four Argyll quarries at Benderloch, Bonawe, Dunbeg and Furnace, is said to be in a good trading position.

Board change at troubled Ennstone Group

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Ennstone Group have announced that Mark Elliott has resigned as a Director on the Board of the Company with immediate effect but will continue in his role as President of the Company’s US subsidiary, Ennstone, Inc.

This news should be read alongside the series of articles For Argyll has published on the continuing troubles of the Ennstone Group. Entering ‘Ennstone’ in the Search on this page will bring access to previous news items.

Argyll has a particular interest in the struggles of the Group as its Scottish subsidiary, Ennstone Thistle operates four Argyll quarries – at Furnace, Dunbeg, Benderloch and Bonawe.

Ennstone disposals continue

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The Ennstone Group is continuing its asset disposals. It has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Ennstone Inc., has agreed the sale of its wharf facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to West Penn Aggregates Inc. West Penn Aggregates will pay, on completion, $1.73 million cash.  Completion of the transaction is conditional on Ennstone Inc.’s lenders releasing their security interest over the wharf facility.

Ennstone anticipates that the sale will be completed by 26th January 2009. The Group will then be required to repay approximately $0.21 million of outstanding finance leases of parts of the property concerned. On 31st December 2008, the property had a net book value of $1.95 million and had generated a loss of $0.66 million in the financial year which ended on that date.

Ennstone Inc. is currently negotiating with its US lenders on how the proceeds of the sale – which will be retained in the US – will be applied.

Ennstone Group is continuing to seek and negotiate on either a refinancing or an offer for the Company. However, it concedes that its financing situation remains critical and there can be no certainty of a satisfactory outcome.

This means that the four Argyll quarries – at Furnace, Dunbeg, Benderloch and Bonawe, operated by the Group’s Scottish subsidiary, Ennstone Thistle, will have to continue to hold their breath.

Another fire sale property disposal for short-of-working-capital Ennstone, operator of four Argyll quarries,

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The troubled Ennstone Group (operators of quarries at Furnace, Dunbeg, Benderloch and Bonawe in Argyll) announced today that it has now sold another property asset to meet its needs for short term working capital.

The property is the Group’s former natural stone works and redundant quarry at Stainton in County Durham. It has been sold to three local businessmen for £1.325million cash. Less than two weeks ago, on 31st December 2008, the property had a net book value of £2.234million. Ennstone expect the sale to complete on 14th January. Ennstone are to retain the proceeds of the sale to meet short term working capital needs.

The Group says that it is still pursuing negotiations either on refinancing or on an offer for the Company and admit that the company’s financing situation remains critical.

Its statement says baldly that: ‘…there can be no certainty of a satisfactory outcome’.

Troubled Ennstone announce appointment of new Executive Chairman

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The Board of the troubled Ennstone Group, operator of four Argyll quarries – at Furnace, Dunbeg, Benderloch and Bonawe – have this morning (5th January 2009) announced that Julian Cooper has joined the Board with immediate effect as Executive Chairman.

Mr Cooper is a Chartered Accountant and brings to the Board his considerable experience in a variety of executive management positions.  He is a senior partner of consultants, MPC Partners LLP and is a former partner at Arthur Andersen. This was once one of the Big Five international accountancy firms until its collapse in 2002, mired in the Enron financial scandal in the USA.

Julian Cooper succeeds Graham Brown who will remain on the Board as a non-executive Director, ensuring a smooth transition. The Board of Enstone Group wish to thank Mr Brown for his service to the Group as Interim Executive Chairman.

The coming days and weeks will be critical to Ennstone in its admitted difficulties, as For Argyll has reported, so Mr Cooper joins at a time when all of his skills and experience will be immediately needed. It is in Argyll’s interests that he succeeds.

Ennstone problems deepen, with four Argyll quarries: Furnace, Dunbeg, Benderloch and Bonawe, under threat

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Ennstone Thistle, the Scottish wing of the troubled Ennstone Group, operates four quarries in Argyll – at Furnace, Dunbeg, Benderloch and Bonawe.

Yesterday (22nd December) Ennstone announced that it has sold ‘the trade and assets of Ennstone Concrete Products Limited’ (aka Concrete Products) to FP McCann Ltd. This is its precast concrete products business, and after its disposal, Ennstone will no longer have any involvement in the ongoing manufacture of concrete products.

As part of the disposal agreement, Ennstone has agreed a long-term supply of aggregates from certain of its quarries to the sites now disposed of and to a further FP McCann site. This agreement secures this particular market for aggregates from specific quarries.

However, when some debts were discharged within the sale agreement, only £3.3 million of the £8.4 million cash and debt free deal for Conrete Products remained to the Ennstone Group. These proceeds were required by its Board, in the absence of any additional credit, to provide short-term cash to meet the Group’s working capital needs.

Without the proceeds of this sale, Ennstone admits that:  ‘the Board is of the opinion that the Group would not have had sufficient liquidity to meet its financial commitments as they fell due.’  It says that in such circumstances: ‘the Board would have had to appoint administrators, liquidators or receivers’.

This is no more than a temporary respite. Regardless of the modest proceeds from this asset sale, the Group’s Board confirmed that, if no offer for the Group is made, the Group will require substantial additional funding. It will also need to reach an agreement with its debt providers on the restructuring of its existing facilities during January 2009.

Should these arrangements noit materialise, Ennstone is saying that: ‘it will not have sufficient liquidity to trade as a going concern and the Board will be forced to seek the appointment of receivers, administrators or liquidators’.

Given that the Group  – and those who, in different conditions, might have made an offer for it – are likewise finding finance hard to come by, the reality is that the company is looking at the likelihood of this outcome in January at the latest.