Details emerge on £9.5m Pera Technology collapse
Pera Technology, the Melton Mowbray-based firm, went into administration in April owing £9.5m, TheBusinessDesk.com can reveal, and has been bought back by its management for a fraction of that amount.
The company was bought out of administration for £561,500 by management who came together to form a new company called Pera Technology Solutions.
However, documents drawn up by administrators Milner Boardman have laid bare the debt the Pera Techology ran up.
Money owed includes £4.06m to the firm’s previous owners Pera Innovation, £4.192m to NatWest, £424,724 to Pera Management Services and £342,034 to HMRC. Some £506,154 is owed to other unsecured creditors.
Pera Technology was formed in May 2012 after it was sold by Pera Innovation, which provided a loan for a management buyout and working capital.
The company initially did well and at one point employed around 160 staff at bases in Melton Mowbray, Hampton and overseas in Estonia.
However, by the time it submitted its last accounts on 31 March 2015 Pera Technology was making a loss of £1.27m a year, which was blamed mainly on its failure to gain traction in its target market within the new European Commission funding framework.
Paul Tranter, former chief executive of Pera Technology, was involved in the acquisition of Pera Technology by Pera Technology Solutions, administrators say, but is not named as a director. Named directors of the new company are Simon Fawcett, Paul Groves, Dean Hallam and Edward De Paz.
In April Tranter confirmed that all 80 people working at Pera Technology would be transferred to Pera Technology Solutions.
