Johannesburg - Protech Khuthele Holdings, a South African construction company, has filed for business rescue as a lack of debtor repayments put it under cash constraints.
The Johannesburg-based company, whose chief executive officer, Antony Page, resigned on May 28, has voluntarily filed for protection against its creditors, the company said in a statement today.
Protech can’t meet its commitments due immediately to suppliers and a debtor failed to repay 40 million rand, it said.
“Given the cash-flow impediment, the board concluded that although Protech is financially distressed, there appears to be a reasonable prospect of potentially rescuing the company, as the assets, fairly valued, exceed the liabilities,” Victor Dingle, acting chief executive and chief financial officer, said in an e-mailed statement.
“The board is unanimous in its decision that Protech voluntarily begin the business-rescue process.”
Protech’s board declined to recommend a $16 million takeover by Eqstra Holdings in April last year, saying the bid undervalued its business.
South Africa’s economy, the second-largest on the continent, shrank in the three months through March as the longest mining strike in the nation’s history, by 70,000 workers at platinum producers, hit output. - Bloomberg News