Offers for remaining assets point to shortfall in repaying debt

Monday 01 May 2017 09:12 AM

Intueri says indicative offers for remaining assets point to shortfall in repaying bank debt

By Jonathan Underhill

May 1 (BusinessDesk) - Intueri Education Group says indicative offers for its remaining New Zealand colleges would not generate enough funds to repay all of $70.7 million in debt with ANZ Bank New Zealand.

As a result, the company would have "insufficient residual assets to operate a sustainable business or make any return to shareholders" if a sale eventuates, it said in a statement.

Intueri hired High St Capital Partners for advice on options for the New Zealand operations including the sale of assets after being forced to close its Australian institutions when they failed to gain renewed registrations across the Tasman. Those remaining assets are now being liquidated.

The company said today that it retains the support of its bank under a standstill agreement reached after it breached a lending covenant. The standstill is to allow Intueri to complete a strategic review. "Intueri’s New Zealand businesses continue to be able to meet obligations currently being incurred," the company said in a statement.

In February, Intueri said it had conditionally agreed to sell the NZ School of Outdoor Studies, which trades as the NZ School of Commercial Diver Training and is the only such school in New Zealand, with settlement expected by the end of March. However, today it said the sale hasn't been finalised despite settlement being extended to the end of April "and Intueri is now exploring options with other parties to divest this college. In the meantime, the Dive School will maintain normal operations under Intueri management."

"Intueri again recommends that persons considering trading in Intueri shares ensure that they understand the implications of this announcement and seek professional advice prior to doing so," it said.

Intueri's 2014 initial public offering at $2.35 a share allowed vendor Arowana International to net about $102 million while selling its stake down to 24.9 percent and provided $60 million to pay for the acquisition of its now-defunct Quantum Education Group. The stock last traded at 2.1 cents, valuing the company at $2.1 million.

(BusinessDesk)

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