High Court approves survival scheme for Compu b

A survival scheme has been approved for Compu b, which employs 395 people, of whom 110 are in Ireland. File photo

A High Court judge has approved a survival scheme for the Irish-headquartered parent of Compu b, a reseller of Apple premium computer products, and three related companies in the UK.

The companies employ 395 people, of whom 110 are in Ireland.

Mr Justice Denis McDonald had, last July, appointed David O’Connor of BDO as examiner to the companies.

He did so on foot of evidence indicating the companies had a reasonable prospect of survival if certain conditions, including implementation of a restructuring programme, are met.

He also noted the significant number of jobs at stake and the absence of objections to examinership.

The companies' petition for examinership said the Compu b business has historically been profitable but a number of factors had come together which had significant negative impacts on the companies, including the Covid-19 pandemic, store closures resulting from that, underperforming stores, and acceleration of customer trends towards buying online.

Unless court protection was secured, the companies would be unable to pay their debts as they fall due from July 2020, it was stated.

Mr Justice McDonald said, having read the scheme and the “very helpful and detailed” report of the examiner, he was satisfied all the requirements for court approval were met.

It was clear that creditors of the companies will do significantly better under the scheme than if the companies were wound up, he observed.