Engineering and construction contractor Marine & Civil is set to emerge from administration after striking a deal with Thiess to establish a new jointly owned company.
Engineering and construction contractor Marine & Civil is set to emerge from administration after striking a deal with Thiess to establish a new jointly owned company.
Three months after going into administration, Marine & Civil creditors this week approved a deed of company arrangement that will result in most of the group’s assets and staff transferring to a new entity provisionally called M&C2 Pty Ltd.
Joint administrator Chris Williamson of WA Insolvency Solutions said the new entity would be jointly owned by Thiess (a subsidiary of listed engineering company Leighton Holdings) and Marine & Civil’s existing management.
It is understood that unsecured creditors were owed just over $20 million.
Mr Williamson said the unsecured creditors were likely to get a return of 23 cents on the dollar.
The return to creditors will include $4 million from the sale of a property at the Australian Marine Complex at Henderson.
The property was purchased in June 2009 but has been bought back by developer Landcorp after Marine & Civil was unable to proceed with its development plans on the site.
Mr Williamson said Thiess was one of several companies that showed an interest in Marine & Civil.
“We went with them because they were the ones who showed the most interest,” he said.
Marine & Civil went into administration after incurring losses on the Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island.
It has been working on the development of WAPET Landing, which is part of a larger $108 million site development contract awarded to Perth company Ertech Pty Ltd in June 2009.
Mr Williamson said this work was close to completion.
Marine & Civil also established the M&M joint venture with South Africa-based construction company Murray & Roberts, which won a separate contract for a wharf loading facility on Barrow Island.
The latter work is part of an $800 million dredging and construction contract awarded to Boskalis Australia in October 2009.
Mr Williamson said Murray & Roberts had taken over the contract for the wharf loading facility and would complete the work.
Marine & Civil employed around 200 people at its peak, and it is understood nearly all staff will join the new jointly owned company.
Marine & Civil was established in 1992. Its projects have included the Cottesloe artificial surf reef, the Graham Farmer freeway bridge piling and the Narrows Bridge duplication, and more recently wharf facilities at Port Hedland and Koolan Island and rebuilding of the Busselton Jetty.