The High Court confirmed the appointment of an examiner to Mount Wolseley Hotel, Golf and Country Club and related companies Lismard Properties and Lismard Enterprises, giving them an opportunity to pursue a restructuring. The decision did not approve a scheme of arrangement or determine how creditors would ultimately be treated.
In a judgment delivered on 29 April 2014, Mr Justice Keane found that the companies had a reasonable prospect of survival as going concerns, meeting the threshold for examinership. He confirmed Ian Lawlor as examiner and directed him to provide separate reports for each company under section 18 of the Companies (Amendment) Act 1990.
Mount Wolseley operates the hotel, spa, golf and country club business in Tullow, County Carlow. The related companies own parts of the hotel property and leisure facilities. The court recorded that the hotel business employed up to 175 people, depending on the season.
The companies acknowledged that their debts to Bank of Ireland were unsustainable. The judgment put that debt at about €28.7 million and recorded about €32 million in borrowing from other financial institutions. Bank of Ireland had served repayment demands on 3 April 2014 and appointed a receiver the next day. The examinership petition was presented on 4 April, preventing the receiver from acting while court protection remained in place.
Bank of Ireland opposed the petition, arguing that the evidence did not establish a reasonable prospect of survival, that the application principally protected shareholders, and that a trading receivership could preserve the business and jobs. The court considered financial projections, the independent accountant’s report and the interim examiner’s evidence, including expressions of interest from eight potential investors. The accountant’s opinion depended on investment or debt restructuring, continued efficiencies, the companies entering examinership together, continued use of Mount Wolseley House for certain hotel purposes, and court approval of a scheme.
The judgment also records a dispute over whether the hotel business needed the cooperation of the owners of Mount Wolseley House, a private residence, for access and other purposes. The petitioner said that cooperation was essential; the bank disputed that claim. The judge said the issue did not outweigh the independent accountant’s opinion at this stage, while observing that the dependency could make a successful examinership harder.
The court left questions about any eventual scheme—including whether it would be fair to Bank of Ireland and other creditors—to a later hearing if a proposal were made. It also declined to decide whether examinership or a trading receivership would ultimately better serve the business and creditors. The examiner was given the chance to investigate whether a beneficial scheme could be produced; its success was not guaranteed.