Robinson Way sale fetched £73m
ROBINSON Way, the debt collection arm of the failed Manchester lender London Scottish Bank (LSB), was sold to managers for £73m.
The value of the deal, led by managing director Graham Prosser and operations director Bill Murray last month, has been included in documents filed at Companies House.
The figure is far lower than the price tag of £100m originally put on the business. Earlier this year Ernst & Young postponed the sale because it did not feel the bids it had received reflected Robinson Way’s true enterprise value.
Ernst & Young agreed to accept a deferred consideration that will be paid over the next six years. Managers bought the business, assets and trading name leaving liabilities of £85m in the old trading entity Robinson Way and Company Ltd which has now changed its name to RWC 2009 Ltd.
The debts related to £32.9m owed to a syndicate of banks and a £52m inter-company debt. LSB’s joint administrator Simon Allport has now been appointed joint liquidator to RWC 2009 Ltd. He said its creditors would receive a strong settlement from the liquidation.
“The liquidation of RWC will provide an excellent outcome for creditors as future dividends are currently estimated to total in excess of 90p in the pound,” said Mr Allport.
LSB collapsed in December 2008 after failing to plug a £32.5m shortfall in regulatory capital. It became bogged down in rising levels of bad debt and a last ditch attempt to find a buyer failed.
