Liquidators of a collapsed investment fund have defended their course of action in the face of a threatened legal claim.
The Manx taxpayer is funding the winding up of New Earth Renewables and Recycling (Infrastructure) Plc (NERR), part of the New Earth Group of Funds, which went into liquidation last year.
Managed and promoted by Premier Group Isle of Man, the group invested in recycling facilities in the UK.
NERR and its two feeder funds, Premier Investment Opportunities Fund and Eclipse Investment Fund, had some 3,249 investors who are unlikely to get any of their money back.
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Two allied UK trading companies, New Earth Solutions Group Ltd and New Earth Solutions Facilities Management Ltd had already collapsed into administration and their business and assets sold to a third party.
As iomtoday reported last month, an action group led by a Ms Jane Sanders, had mounted a bid to replace NERR’s liquidators.
But releasing an update to shareholders and creditors, joint liquidators Alexander Adam and David Craine said they believed their course of action was the right one.
They told the Examiner: ’While the joint liquidators retain an open mind, they do not currently believe further returns can be generated by a different set of actions.
’The joint liquidators have not received any credible offers or proposals to date, any parties wishing to propose courses of action must understand they will need to disclose information to the joint liquidators.
’Meanwhile, the joint liquidators continue to investigate the potential for recovery from other sources for the benefit of all creditors and investors.’
Their report notes an informal approach from Ms Sanders on behalf of Global Gateways and a group of IFAs mooting a legal claim to gain control of some of New Earth Solutions’ former assets. But they said they had not received supporting evidence to assess whether such a scheme had any merit.
The joint liquidators said they are investigating the causes of the company’s failure. They note that as well as money lost in the investments in the UK trading companies, in excess of £40m was paid out to service providers.