OB company Arena Television owed over £280m when it collapsed late last year, according to a report filed with Companies House by administrator, Kroll.
The administrator’s report reveals that 55 asset-based lenders are owed a total of £282m in loans taken out for equipment by Arena.
However, following a review by Hickman Shearer, the administrator’s report says that “it is evident that the Group does not hold the vast majority of assets purportedly acquired by lenders from certain suppliers and subsequently acquired by Television/Holdings on hire purchase of finance agreements from lenders.”
The report says that “There is a shortfall of several thousand assets resulting in the liabilities of c.£282m which are not supported by underlying assets as the lenders had been led to believe by the Group.”
Following investigation, only nine lenders have any verified broadcast assets supporting their finance agreements.
At the end of November, all employees of the Arena Aviation business were made redundant by the administrator along with seven employees of Arena Television. On 6 December a further 41 employees of Arena Television were made redundant.
Hickman Shearer has been appointed to organise the sale of the existing Arena Television assets with SIA organising the sale of the Arena Aviation side of the business’s assets.
Jon Creamer
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