WD Moore & Co is set to resume trading two months after it went into administration, after its major Singaporean shareholder bought most of its assets in a liquidation sale and registered a new company name.
A manufacturer and supplier of windmills and solar pumps, WD Moore & Co was established in 1862 and has been run by members of the Moore family since that time.
Singapore-based Pan Asian Holdings bought 51 per cent of WD Moore, then valued at $1.7 million, in December 2011, in a deal director Geoff Moore described as a wonderful opportunity.
“We went into business with them with a wonderful opportunity ahead of us, the best opportunity this company’s ever had,” Mr Moore said.
“We were going to take the sales next year from $3 million to $9 million. They had the factories in China, and they have an ability to sell in Asia.
“We had the opportunity of having expanded markets throughout Asia. The second thing that was going to happen was to get our Australian cost of production down to Chinese cost of production, to about 25 to 30 per cent of what they are now … so where could the business go wrong?”
In early June, the directors of WD Moore, including Mr Moore and representatives of Pan Asian Holdings, put the company into administration with debts of about $300,000 to Pan Asian Holdings, $169,000 to WD Moore Windtech, $86,000 to water pump manufacturer Alderdice Brass Foundry, and $16,000 to accountants H&H Business Services.
WA Insolvency Solutions directors Chris Williamson and David Hurt were named as administrators.
Pan Asian Holdings, a supplier of large water pipes and infrastructure, said in documents registered with the Singapore Exchange it acquired WD Moore to further increase the group’s spectrum of product offerings.
It is understood to have bought much of WD Moore’s plant and equipment in an asset sale held on WD Moore’s premises in O’Connor last Thursday and Friday, and has registered a new company name – WD Moore 2013 Pty Ltd.
Mr Moore was disappointed most WD Moore’s 15 staff would not be able to continue with the company.
“Out of the ashes will come the company,” he said
“Customers have depended upon this business for all this time. The good news is that this coming out of the ashes will satisfy that part of the criteria. The bad news is that the heart and soul has now gone out of the industry. We were the heart and soul.”
WA Insolvency Solutions director Chris Williamson said the asset auction had been successful with just about everything sold, and he would now be lodging reports with ASIC before paying creditors.
Mr Williamson would not disclose the total figure from the sale but said it was unlikely all creditors would be repaid.