ALG failed in January. Some of its brands – including Travelsphere and Just You – were sold to G Adventures.
A progress report from ALG’s administrators at Grant Thornton, filed at Companies House last month, confirmed a £52 million deficiency to shareholders, along with a £33 million deficiency to creditors.
The administrators may now move the company into voluntary liquidation in due course to enable a distribution of assets to unsecured creditors.
It is anticipated that this may be payable in around 18 months, although the possibility of an interim dividend is being considered by the administrators. The timeline will partly be driven by funds held in escrow (held by a third party) following the sale of the Voyager ship and other assets.
Voyager was sold to Mexican firm Hoteles Dinamicos for $14 million in March, but as part of the contract it was agreed that $3.5 million would be held in an escrow account until September 2018.
Meanwhile, no evidence of misconduct has been found by the administrators investigating the collapse. They reported that no matters have come to their attention “in relation to any misconduct [which] are being pursued”.
The report also revealed that when ALG failed, travel agents who had sold non-Atol protected trips were holding £527,000. It was decided that in the absence of any trust relationship these funds should be used as assets for creditors.
At the time of the report’s publication, £339,328 had been transferred to the administrators by agents, excluding commission. The administrators are in dialogue with agents and are “seeking legal advice on commission not paid across”.
Eddie Williams, joint administrator from Grant Thornton, said: “We are pleased with the level of realisations achieved to date. The group position is very complex and over the coming months we will focus on... the best approach to support a distribution to creditors.”
