El Oro Ltd. –
in members’ voluntary liquidation (the Company)
I refer to my appointment as joint liquidator of the company on 20 June 2019.
In accordance with current legislation, the joint liquidators are required to provide you with a report on the
conduct and progress of the liquidation. This report is for the period 20 June 2019 to 19 June 2020. We
are also required to provide certain information concerning the company and the liquidators; this
information is attached as Appendix A.
A summary of the liquidators’ receipts and payments for the Period is attached as Appendix B.
Joint Liquidators’ Progress Report
1. Scheme of Reconstruction (the scheme) and winding up of the company
As reported last year, the company was placed into liquidation on 20 June 2019 by its shareholders when
Nick Vermeulen and Christiaan Van Den Berg were appointed joint liquidators in order to implement the
Scheme. The recommended proposals for the Scheme were detailed in the circular to shareholders dated 24
May 2019 (the Circular).
Further distributions
The liquidation is not expected to be closed for another 6 months due to some final illiquid investments that
are still held and some final tax clearances we are waiting on, as set out at section 2 below. Subject to no
further creditor claims, a final cash distribution may be paid in cash to shareholders who are on the
Company’s register of members at the close of business on the Scheme Effective Date on a pari passu basis
pro rata to their respective holdings of the Shares, prior to the reclassification of the Shares, provided that if
any such amount otherwise payable to a shareholder is less than £5.00, it will not be paid to such
shareholder but will be transferred by the Liquidators to a nominated Charity.
2. Progress of the Liquidation
I attach at Appendix B a summary of the liquidators’ receipts and payments covering the period from 20
June 2019 to 19 June 2020 which includes details of all the assets realised. During the year, assets realised
comprise £3,868,893.
All funds are now held in GBP on account at Royal Bank of Scotland International in the name of the Joint
Liquidators.
Illiquid Assets
There are now just four illiquid positions remaining in the custody account held by El Oro Ltd. Three of the
positions we are in the process of writing off as we do not believe they have any value, and as such we are
liaising with HSBC, as the Custodian to effect this. The other position we are looking to transfer to an
interested buyer, and will look to complete this process over the next month.
US Tax Filings
The 2019 tax filings are currently outstanding and are due to be prepared and filed by the end of the month.
UK Subsidiaries
The UK Subsidiaries were both placed into members' voluntary liquidation on 3 June 2019 and Laura
Waters and Rob Lewis, both of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were appointed as Joint Liquidators.
Following the expiry of the statutory creditors' notice period, the majority of their value, which comprised
the sale proceeds of the London property and proceeds from the sale of investments, all of which had been
sold prior to the Subsidiaries going into liquidation, were distributed to El Oro Ltd. and subsequently
formed part of the distribution that was made to the shareholders of El Oro Ltd as a day one liquidation
distribution.
Prior to the distribution to El Oro Ltd. a worse case tax provision was calculated and money was retained in
the UK subsidiaries to cover this provision, aswell as a small provision for any ongoing creditor claims.
The pre and post liquidation tax compliance for both UK subsidiaries has been brought up to date and tax
clearance has been requested from HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”).
Creditors
All known creditors’ claims have been paid. There are ongoing costs of the liquidation in respect of
registrars’ fees, custodian fees and tax compliance fees which will be invoiced and settled just prior to the
finalisation of the liquidation.
3. Liquidators’ Remuneration
At the general meeting held on 20 June 2019 a resolution was passed to enable the joint liquidators to draw
their fees on a time cost basis.
The time costs for the year 20 June 2019 to 19 June 2020 total £320,677 and represent 725 hours. Of the
£320,677 of time costs, £172,151 relates to time spent by the UK liquidation team working on the UK
subsidiaries, and £148,526 relates to time spent by the team in Guernsey. A breakdown for this period by
grade and work type is attached at Appendix C.
We have invoiced £279,523 for liquidators’ remuneration and will be billing the remaining time on the clock
of £41,154 by the end of the month.