HTI Hawtin

TIDMHTI

RNS Number : 2817E

Hawtin PLC

04 April 2011

4 April 2011

Hawtin PLC

Appointment of Administrators

The Board of Hawtin PLC ("Hawtin" or the "Company") regrets to announce that following the enlodgement of a claim for GBP3m by Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Limited ("AIBC") under a parent company guarantee provided by the Company in relation to Millennium Plaza, Cardiff, the property owned by Hawtin's subsidiary, Crown Investments Limited ("Crown") which led to the suspension of the Company's shares on 29 March 2011, that it has not been possible to enter into any negotiations with AIBC.

The Board has today therefore appointed PwC as administrators to Hawtin. The main secured creditors of the Company are Bank of Scotland plc which is owed some GBP31.4m (including SWAPS liabilities) and Principality Building Society which is owed some GBP1.4m. These liabilities are secured against some GBP31.2m of property. Hawtin has for some time tightly controlled expenditure and whilst trade creditors are not material, the Company is unable to pay the unsecured claim by AIBC of GBP3m, nor will it be able to meet claims from Guinevere Limited in respect of GBP2.85m of unsecured loan notes.

The appointment of PwC does not affect Hawtin's subsidiaries Norfleet Properties (Holdings) Limited, Purabuild Limited, Hawtin Park Developments Limited, Holywell Properties (Holdings) Limited and Foxleap Limited which will continue to trade. It is the intention of the director of Crown, which is registered in Jersey, to liquidate that company with immediate effect. As detailed above, Crown was the owner of Millenium Plaza, Cardiff to which AIBC appointed an LPA Receiver in November 2010 and which we believe has subsequently been sold.

Having received shareholder approval at the General Meeting on 31 March 2011, Hawtin was in the final stages of agreeing the sale of all its subsidiaries, excepting Crown, to Gracelands Investments Limited. These negotiations will now be passed to the administrator for consideration.

Having enabled the progress of the documentation of the proposed sale to be brought to a near conclusion and ensured that third party creditors have been controlled over the past months, both the non-executive directors have resigned their positions at Hawtin with immediate effect to enable the administrator to bring matters to a speedy conclusion.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

 
 Hawtin PLC 
 Richard Hayward (CEO) /                 Tel: 01633 682130 
  Nicola Crickmore (Company Secretary) 
 
 Seymour Pierce Limited 
 Guy Peters / David Foreman (Corporate   Tel: 020 7107 8000 
  Finance) 
 Richard Redmayne (Corporate Broking) 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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