H&W creditors will recover little following Navantia sale
The administration process ensures that Navantia bears no responsibility for debts incurred before its acquisition of the company (Source: H&W)
Businesses owed money by Harland and Wolff (H&W) are set to recover little from the firm’s administration process, with unsecured creditors expected to receive no more than 2p for every pound owed.
The Belfast-based shipbuilder was bought out of administration earlier this year by Spain’s state-owned Navantia for GBP 93 million. However, the distribution of those funds follows legal priorities, with secured creditors ranking ahead of unsecured businesses.
US investment fund Riverstone Capital, which had lent money to H&W, is classified as a secured creditor. It received an initial GBP 39.5 million in January and is expected to recover a further GBP 16 million, meaning it will recoup about a third of its original loan.
The details were outlined in an update from insolvency firm Teneo, which is overseeing the administration. The report indicated that non-preferential unsecured creditors – mainly businesses that provided goods or services to Harland and Wolff – are unlikely to recover significant sums. One local contractor is owed more than GBP 2 million.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson previously described the financial losses faced by local firms as a "hammer blow."
The administration process ensures that Navantia bears no responsibility for debts incurred before its acquisition of the company.
