High Court grants new chance to Liam Carroll

A High Court judge has allowed companies in the Liam Carroll-controlled Zoe Group a second chance to seek to be placed into examinership.

Today at the High Court Mr Justice John Cooke said that there were "strong reasons" why the petition to allow the companies in the troubled property group seek the protection of the court should be fixed for hearing.

The petition to have an examiner appointed to Liam Carroll's firms was brought by Vantive Holdings which, with Jersey-registered Morston Investments Ltd, are the parent companies of around 50 companies known as Zoe Developments.

The other companies include Villeer Developments, Peytor Developments, Caragh Enterprises Ltd and Parlez International Ltd. The firms have a very substantial portfolio of investment and development outlets and a seventh company Royceton.

The group, which has bank borrowings of €1.2bn, is seeking to go into examinership, which would give an examiner 100 days to come up with a scheme that would allow the company to continue to trade.

The judge said that he would give more detailed reasons for his decision on Monday morning, when it is expected that a date for the hearing of the petition will be fixed.

ACC bank, on whose application a receiver and provisional liquidator had been appointed to companies in the group, had opposed Zoe's application to have a petition heard by the court in light of the orgininal petition failure to suceed in both the High Court and the Supreme Court.

Earlier this month the Supreme Court upheld a decsion by Mr Justice Peter Kelly not to appoint an examiner to the group on the grounds that it had failed to display that it had a reasonable prospect of survival as a going concern.