No prior ranking creditors ahead of St Laurence investors
St Laurence investors do not need to worry about any prior ranking creditors eating into their meagre returns.
Thursday, July 1st 2010, 8:47PM
by Paul McBeth
The personal property securities register, which records all claims against personal property other than land, showed OEC Loans and Valad Symphony Finance were secured parties on two of the St Laurence funds. One of the failed financier's receiver, Barry Jordan of Deloitte, said he was not aware of any secured parties that held a prior ranking to the 9,000 investors owed some $250 million.
"I'm not aware of any prior ranking parties - the PPSR flushes out any of those creditors," Jordan told depositrates.co.nz. "There's no evidence [St Laurence] owed anyone else."
St Laurence's receivers told investors the best they can expect to recover is 32 cents in the dollar, including the 10 cents already paid under the finance company's failed moratorium. Jordan and David Vance's first report estimated debenture holders will get between 15 cents and 22 cents from the company's remaining assets, while noteholders and unsecured creditors will get nothing back.
Of the finance company's remaining assets the loan book had a face value of $74.4 million before management took on provisioning for bad debts, and all but one loan in default at the time of receivership. It also holds management contracts with National Property Trust, which is in the process of being bought out by the company, Irongate Property, which St Laurence owns 34% of, and various Director Property Investment syndicates.
The receivers will also pursue guarantees provided by former managing director Kevin Podmore and associated companies pledging to meet any shortfall in funds to a maximum $20 million if St Laurence was put into receivership.
Podmore has since said the value of the companies underwriting the guarantee shrank to $4.9 million by the end of last year and the assets they held were illiquid and offset by debt.
Paul is a staff writer for Good Returns based in Wellington.
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