Cains’ creditors lose out
A CREDITORS’ report has shown how the Dusanj brothers bought Cains out of administration for £103,750, a month after it collapsed with debts of £50m.
The Liverpool brewer went into administration on August 7 after HM Revenue and Customs issued a winding-up petition and its bank refused to refinance the business.
Last month the former owners Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj bought back the brewing business and nine pubs which were in the original estate they acquired back in 2002. They lost £3.5m when the company collapsed.
In their report administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers list the business’s debts and say it is “unlikely” unsecured creditors will receive a pay-out.
Trade creditors were owed nearly £8m and councils lost £800,000 in unpaid rates. The company also owed the taxman more than £11m.
The Bank of Scotland was owed £28m, although this was secured against more than 100 properties. Cains took on the debt to fund a £37m reverse takeover of Honeycombe Leisure last year. It gave Cains a larger estate but also saddled it with big debt repayments.
But administrators said trading had been “difficult” before the deal. Pub sales fell 15% in the six months to April, when the company lost £4.6m.
Joint administrator Craig Livesey is now looking for a buyer for around 35 pubs that were part of the estate.
