Creditors of the Kleenmaid Group have voted for liquidation of the group.
Approximately 80 creditors attended the meeting held on Monday by administrators, John Greig, David Lombe and Richard Hughes in Brisbane.
Greig again confirmed that the group has over $102 million in liabilities, that he believes that there have been significant breaches of directors duties, and that there is very little chance of a dividend to unsecured creditors.
He expressed concern and understanding about the plight of the 4500 creditors that have been affected by the business.
“Creditors have today expressed their disbelief about the likely date of insolvent trading being as early as 2007, a number of consumer creditors have been hurt by this collapse and unfortunately, it appears their position will be that there is not enough stock or assets to satisfy their claims,” he said.
Greig said that the next step will be for the liquidators to sell the realisable assets and to discuss further funding options available through the ASIC.
He also said that the appointment of a liquidator will provide employees with the right to apply for compensation through General Employee Entitlements Redundancy Scheme, but confirmed that franchisees are in a difficult position.
“They have essentially lost their investment,” he said.
When asked if the global financial crisis had been the major contributor to the challenges faced by the group, he said, “the financial crisis has affected many businesses, but the liquidators believe the group had been insolvent before the global financial crisis”.
During the meeting, committees of inspection were appointed to assist the liquidators.