Brenton Strauss offers Sapphire (SA) creditors a deed of company arrangement

The principal of failed grain trader Sapphire (SA) has made an offer to pay creditors. See the response.

Creditors of failed grain trader Sapphire (SA) have rejected the latest Deed of Company Arrangement, which would see them receive just 1.4 cents in the dollar owed to them.

Grain trader Brenton Strauss has offered to pay 171 long-suffering unsecured creditors a total of $140,000 to end the liquidation of his company Sapphire (SA) Pty Ltd.

Mr Strauss proposed a Deed of Company Arrangement which would have seen creditors receive just 1.4 cents in the dollar seven years after Sapphire (SA) collapsed.

Acceptance of the offer by creditors would see the company free to trade again.

It was the second DoCA proposed by Mr Strauss after Sapphire (SA) was placed in liquidation in March, 2014, with debts of $10 million.

The first offered two payments of 10 cents in the dollar, one in February, 2015, followed by another 12 months later.

Sapphire (SA) traded as River City Grain Co in Victoria, NSW and Queensland and as RiverCity Grain Co in SA.

A week before Sapphire (SA) collapsed, Mr Strauss began trading as River City Grain under a new company Whites Hill (SA), registered in the name of Peter Jacobs.

Mr Strauss continues to trade under Whites Hill (SA).

Sapphire (SA) creditor and member of the company’s committee of inspection overseeing the liquidation Stuart Ellis said Mr Strauss made an offer of 20 cents in the dollar early in the company’s administration.

“But when we started asking questions, it was reduced to 10 cents in the dollar,” Mr Ellis said.

He said Sapphire (SA)’ creditors rejected the first DoCA and the committee of inspection recently spurned the latest offer.

“What a farce. It’s an absolute joke,” Mr Ellis said.

A circular seen by The Weekly Times shows Sapphire (SA) liquidator Anthony Matthews & Associates and lawyers have received the lion’s share of $500,000 of proceeds gained from the liquidation.

“Everybody gets money out of the liquidation bar the poor old creditors,” Mr Ellis said.

“There is not a cent in it for creditors.”

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