R&Q heads for liquidation; all hope is lost for rescue via asset sales
R&Q Holdings will head to liquidation bankruptcy, having lost all hope of finalising an asset sale that had been designed as a last-ditch rescue for the strapped insurance group.
The wind-down and liquidation sell-off appears to be “the best option to secure value at this time,” management claimed after a review of options, but lingering shareholders are warned: “there will be very little, if any, chance of any value accruing to the Company's shareholders.”
The move to liquidation follows a lengthy and costly attempt to finalise sale of R&Q's programme management business to Onex, in line with a preliminary deal inked in October 2023. R&Q was forced to strike a stand-still deal with creditors in late April and eventually received an “alternative proposal” from Onex by which it would pick up the asset via liquidation.
Rescue efforts brought “significant additional unexpected costs and expenses” while binding R&Q's hands on its rump legacy business, management previously said of the road to bankruptcy.
“Following the Board's exploration and evaluation and taking all other relevant factors into consideration, including the cash resources currently available to the Company, the Board has concluded that the Alternative Proposal represents the best option to secure value at this time,” R&Q management said in its latest filing to markets.
R&Q has requested that trading in the Company's ordinary shares on London’s AIM market be suspended with immediate effect as it moves to file for the provisional liquidation in Bermuda.
Debt holders could also be left out in the cold, management had previously warned. Without cash for deleveraging from the originally planned deal, R&Q will default, management said in its prior update.
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