admin
the engineering, galvanising and fabrication firm’s factory, along with other industrial and residential properties belonging to other debtors, was prompted by an outstanding debt believed to run to US$1,8 million owed to ZB Bank.
The accumulated as the company encountered difficulties over the past few months. Sold in two parts, the property was bought by the same buyer whose identity could not be established .
Contacted for comment, Gulliver Consolidated managing director Mr Ray Chindeka confirmed the sale but would not go into details. But he said the sale would not immediately affect the firm’s operations.
Founded in 1952, the Gulliver Consolidated factory in Aspindale is located on 4 336 hectares, comprising two office blocks, workshops and warehouses. The auction was was held by Homeland Real Estate, instructed by the Sheriff of the High Court.
The sale drew much interest from buyers whose bids ranged from US$10 000 to US$550 000. One of the Gulliver properties went for US$550 000, while another fetched US$370 000.
The Herald Business could not establish whether the sale was approved, as there is a 14-day window for confirmation of the sale by the High Court, once all conditions are met.
Gulliver was suspended from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange nearly two years ago after it faced financial problems and lost nearly two-thirds of its value in 2010. It also had the third lowest market capitalisation on the ZSE.
With the depressed economic activity in its sector, Gulliver continued to haemorrhage and desperately required a huge cash injection to boost operations.
Its main shareholder, Apex Corporation, failed to come to aid of the party, leading to the company’s heavy indebtedness.
The company operates several divisions engaged in engineering, galvanising and steel fabrication which include Morewear, Moresteel, Megasteel, Industrial Galvanising and Fabrication, Lysachts Steel Merchants and Gulliver Logistics. The company’s market capitalisation dropped to US$1,17 million in 2010 when its value started to fall dramatically.
Another sale that drew much interest was that of a property in Borrowdale belonging to the collapsed Royal Bank, in a case involving the National Social Security Authority, that fetched US$325 000. The bank surrendered its licence to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last year after failing to mobilise sufficient deposits to sustain the business.
The planned sale of a Kingstons building in downtown Harare was withdrawn, as well as another involving the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company, for reasons the auctioneer did not disclose. Analysts have attributed the increasing number of industrial and residential properties going under the hammer to the prevailing liquidity challenges in the economy that have affected businesses in the country.
The buyers of the properties are expected to pay in cash, or the offers would be extended to the closest bidder.
Online Reporter