Laurel creditors lumbered with £130m losses

Unsecured creditors of the failed pub and restaurant group Laurel face losses of more than £130m, administrators Kroll have revealed.

Property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz put the chain into administration in March and then bought 293 of its 383 pubs and restaurants via to newly-formed companies via a ‘pre-pack’ arrangement.

The controversy surrounding the deal once more raises questions about pre-pack administrations, which allow companies to offload liabilities before buying back assets reports The Daily Telegraph.

Although sources close to Bay Restaurant Group and Town & City Pub Company, the two businesses formed after the administration, claim the majority of creditors have subsequently been repaid.

Laurel's unsecured creditors - including food suppliers, carpet makers and magazine publishers - faced a loss of as much as £133m, according to documents filed by Kroll, the administrator.

Kroll put Laurel into administration after it was unable to finance repayment obligations on £185.5m of loans from Kaupthing and Dresdner Kleinwort.

According to Kroll, the banks then financed a subsequent £150.6m acquisition to take the pubs and restaurants out of administration.

Laurel's unsecured creditors were left with liabilities totalling £134.2m after the administration.

Unsecured creditors have a £600,000 fund to remunerate them, as a condition of the administration.