Woolworths Share Discussion Threads

[loganair] 04/3/2010 09:51

Hi Bigface - would you be so kind as to copy and paste the part of the article that is of interest as far as I can see one has to login in to see the article.

[bigface] 02/3/2010 17:33

Have you seen this Davy - have a look at evolotion securities valuation linked in the main article

[loganair] 08/2/2010 09:19

That's the Plunder of Woolies...

More on the most lucrative, offically-sanctioned conflict of interest in British business, whereby accountants who advise the bankers of businesses in financial difficulty all too often conclude that the company should be put into administration with themselves as (very well paid) administrators.

When Woolworths got into trouble in 2008 its banker's adviser, Deloitte, rejected a plan from Woolies' chief executive Steve Johnson to save it from administration by selling its stores to a "turnaround" specialist called Hilco. On Deloitte's advice, the banks instead put the company into administration, with the job of administrator going to...Deloitte. Woolies' chiairman richard North complained of "a clear conflict of interest".

Fourteen months later the administration report shows that the banks have been repaid in full and that the three Deloitte partners and their staff have trousered £9.3m. Hilco isn't complaing: it has been assuaged with £8.44m in fees as consultants to the administrators; while legal fees totalling £3.4m have gone largely to Linklaters & Appleby in, er Jersey.

And the 30,000 modestly-paid staff who lost their jobs? They have received no redundancy paymentsd from the company.

[sl33py] 08/1/2010 14:42

Nice work if you can get it.

[davy99] 08/1/2010 13:41

Deloitte adds £5.5m to Woolworths administration bill
08.01.10

[loganair] 31/12/2009 10:14

Why did the two main lending banks to Woolies require their money back? - one was Irish and the other GMAC:

FT - 31st December

The US Treasury will become the majority shareholder of GMAC, the former lending arm of General Motors, as part of a restructuring announced on Wednesday.

[porketh] 18/12/2009 17:01

What is number 2?

I totally agree with you - it does need regulating. They advised WLW to liquidatem then got the role of liquidators answering to no one!

How can that not be illegal somehow?

[dnfa1975] 13/12/2009 13:06

I think administrators fees should be regulated - could someone with the ability start a petition at No. 2. You can do this online someway

[loganair] 13/12/2009 11:57

To save reading the whole article, below is the part that directly concerns Woolworths......

Deloitte has acted as administrator for three of the biggest household name casualties of the recession. In the last financial year it billed more than £10m in fees for winding up Woolworths, Waterford Wedgwood and Land of Leather. Some partners at Deloitte made an average profit of almost £900,000 across the company's activities during the same period.

Insolvency partners working on Woolworths charged an hourly rate of up to £890.

Since Woolworths collapsed in November 2008, Deloitte has been paid almost £5.8m in fees. Secured creditors, such as the banks, have received £325m, but their unsecured counterparts have been less fortunate.

Martin Lowe, a sock supplier, is still owed £300,000, which has had a "drastic effect" on his cash flow. "It's almost like theft," said Lowe. "When administration occurs, you know you're not going to get that money."

Deloitte said its fees reflected the complexity of the work and, by law, were paid first along with secured creditors.

The fees are agreed by a creditors' committee, which in the case of a high-street company is typically made up of banks and private equity firms.


WOOLWORTHS
Collapsed: November 2008
Job losses: 30,000
Adminstrator: Deloitte
Fees paid: £5.77m

[davy99] 13/12/2009 08:16

Advisers rake in £3bn from Lehman Brothers, Woolworths and other failed firms.

[peterboroughmatt] 28/11/2009 22:20

Lets be honest if we knew the right people in the right places we would all be doing this, i had a lot of dealings with euk over the years and Deloittes when they went under. Make no mistake alot of people made alot of money out of this and alot also lost alot of money my company included.

[scotty tsquared] 28/11/2009 14:10

Phoenix Four pay £3m of own money to firm

The former owners of MG Rover have paid £3 million from their own pockets to the liquidators of the car company in a deal to prevent future claims, it was revealed today.

The so-called Phoenix Four – John Towers, Nick Stephenson, John Edwards and Peter Beale – have struck the deal with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the accountancy firm that handled the administration of MG Rover when it collapsed with debts of £1.6 billion. PwC is dealing with the liquidation of the group, trying to raise as much money as possible.

It needs to pay around 5,000 creditors including former employees.

The four remain directors of Phoenix Venture Holdings, which in turn owned MG Rover. A spokesman for the four said today: "This is an agreement that PVH directors have reached with the liquidators of MG Rover, to pay £3 million for the benefit of MG Rover creditors, and in settlement of any future claims MG Rover creditors may make against PVH. The directors are paying this out of their own pockets."



...... and just before Christmas as well ..... how will the 4 servive ??

LOL

[loganair] 23/11/2009 17:31

An interesting story about Deloittes. Apparently MG Rover had a finance arm which has just been sold and the so call phoenix 4 are going to share some £11m between them. Here's the interesting part it was Deloittes that advised th phoenix 4 to set up MG Rover Finance, and how to set it up and run it.

Apparently there is a letter from Deloittes that states about MG Rover Finance it was set up "to make money for the boys."

Need any more be said about Deloittes.

[porketh] 17/11/2009 16:14

Chaps,

Probalby a variation of a theme but I read this in City AM yesterday.



I'm still irritated by the way DoLittle handled it and having spent a number of years working in a similar organisation, there is no doubt in my mind that they did would almost certainly have been what was best for them, their fees and their partners.

[davy99] 15/11/2009 22:39

Worth reading A.N. comments at the end of the Telegraph article including:

A report prior to administration by a major firm of surveyors indicated a price of circa 400m pound for the the shop leases and freeholds

So on balance the company was not bust but simply managed extremely badly and had the management realised they were not able to rescue this business,should have resigned and allow more competent people to take the helm and use the strong balance sheet to then implement more efficient business plan going forward.

[davy99] 15/11/2009 20:18

Hi F6 & sharewinner2, yes Deloitte certainly didn't do a good job imho, except maybe for the bankers. Sunday's Mail also sees the administrators & bankers as being a problem & in the future there should be greater effort to keep businesses trading.

[fazersix] 15/11/2009 17:07

Davy, ive always posted blaming the government for not backing wlw credit insurance,the loss to the tax payer must be fanominal as so many businesses where linked or indirectly linked to woolies,right down to the window cleaners,local shop,petrol stations and too many more to list.Then we have dole,housing benefit claims and the knock on effects across the board. WOW !

GL

f6

[davy99] 15/11/2009 08:16

Sunday's Telegraph has a lot of info. including Chairman & CEO comments.

[deanroberthunt] 13/11/2009 12:10

anyone know about cfd's

I have £520 (not much)....in a long position with Barclays...they are now chasing me to cover this amount...

but am I correct in the fact that the administrators haven't completed the dealings, and whether there will be any return to shareholders.....I know the chance is virtually zero, but do I have to pay up now??

[davy99] 11/11/2009 17:46

Deloitte even lost the battle for any decent value from 2Entertain:

[sharewinner2] 27/10/2009 11:57

You can remove your details now, thanks.