The official receiver
winding up Ownerships Ltd. has reached
the end of the line over the infamous
'buy back' shares.
He could not show
that he owned the shares and neither he
nor anyone else who might claim
ownership has paid the bills that have
built up since last May.
As with any other
owner, allowing bills to remain unpaid
until they exceed the value of the share
results in forfeiting the share. After
taking legal advice, BCBM has acted for
the syndicates owning boats managed by
them who had these shares. On behalf of
these syndicates, BCBM gave the receiver
– or whoever owned the shares – 7 days
to pay up or forfeit the shares back to
the syndicates. The format of the
letter sent on behalf of each syndicate
and in relation to each share was
here (behind a link, but it seems to
have gone), with some explanatory notes.
No payment was
received, so the syndicates have taken
their shares back. They will now either
sell them to recoup the money paid out
by them on behalf of the defaulting
owner or they will absorb them to reduce
the total number of shares in their
boats.
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Shadow is the first of the
ex-Ownerships boats to have a buy-back share reclaimed by her syndicate and sold to a new owner. |
The first of these
shares – in Shadow – went on offer at
the Braunston Show and was sold. The
money has gone into the syndicate's bank
account to help pay for refurbishments.
If the receiver had
acted when BCBM first asked him to, he
could have got some value from these
shares, but his delay and reluctance to
do anything has turned potential assets
into net liabilities. Now that the
liabilities exceed the value of the
shares, the receiver has no option but
to accept the syndicates' decision.
If he were to attempt
any legal action, all he could prove
would be that he once owned the shares,
was liable for the payments and
defaulted. He couldn't use the boats –
as is the case with any owner who fails
to pay their contributions – and he
couldn't sell the shares to anyone else
without first clearing the debt and
offering them to their respective
syndicates.
The syndicates have
written off the outstanding debts over
and above the buy-back value of the
shares, as set by Ownerships. This was
the price paid to former owners when
their shares were bought back. This
means that there are no additional
liabilities accruing to Ownerships Ltd
(in receivership) to compete with the
interests of other creditors.
It is clearly up to
other syndicates to either follow this
example or to continue to pay a
disproportionate amount of their boat
costs while they wait for the official
receiver to actually face up to his
responsibilities. On present
performance, that could be a very long
wait indeed.
Any syndicate
following this route should be sure to
include the cost of selling the
reclaimed shares. BCBM Boat Share would
be happy to act for them in offering
their shares for sale on its website and
at the many shows it attends. To
discuss this, contact Andrew Barton on
01270 628076 or email
andrew.barton@bcbm.co.uk.
