Auction manages to sell most of Wirral marine services firm’s assets
Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring and investment firm, has sold the assets of Bibby HydroMap through BidSpotter.com, an online auction website for industrial goods.
Formerly known as Osiris Projects, Bibby HydroMap was established in 1997.
The company provided hydrographic, geophysical, unexploded-ordnance (UXO), remotely-operated-vehicle (ROV) and asset inspection surveys.
Wirral-based Bibby Hydromap, which was part of the Liverpool-based Bibby Line Group, entered administration earlier this year.
Administrators Andrew Stone and Rick Harrison from KPMG’s restructuring team were appointed joint administrators on April 3.
The company employed 108 members of staff, most of whom were made redundant with immediate effect.
Andrew Stone said: “The company had come under sustained cash flow pressure for some time, culminating in it embarking on an accelerated sales process to identify potential buyers or investment partners.
“While a number of expressions of interest were received from both financial investors and trade parties, unfortunately this interest did not materialise into any viable offers.
“The challenges that the business faced were not related to the COVID-19 pandemic and, despite exploring the Government schemes that have been put in place, these schemes were not suitable to fix the issues at hand, resulting in the directors taking the difficult decision to place the company into administration.”
The joint administrators instructed Gordon Brothers to market and secure buyers for marine survey equipment, warehouse fixtures and fittings, as well as office furniture and equipment.
The Gordon Brothers auction sale, comprising more than 500 lots, attracted global interest from in excess of 400 potential purchasers from 18 countries, including Australia, Singapore, Russia, Canada and the US.
Mr Stone said: ““While we hoped that the auction would receive high levels of interest, we are delighted that Gordon Brothers was able to reach such a large number of potential buyers, helping to make the sale a success and realising significant value for creditors of the administration.”
Mark Lord, director at Gordon Brothers, said: “Gordon Brothers are pleased to have managed the successful auction and helped to fulfil the joint administrators’ goals of selling a wide range of equipment and unlocking value in the company’s assets.
“We have also been instrumental in the successful sale of three of the four vessels in the Bibby Hydromap fleet. The final vessel currently for sale is the Bibby Athena,” he added.
