After more than three decades of trade, Canberra-based construction company PBS Building will be wound up.
More than 500 creditor claims were made during the administration of the five PBS companies, which was estimated to total up to $169 million.
Whether all creditors, many of which are small ACT businesses, will be paid back in full is uncertain at this stage.
On Wednesday, creditors voted to put four companies in administration, including the ACT and Queensland businesses.
They voted for the NSW company to enter a deed of company arrangement with litigation funder Clover Risk Funding.
This would allow the administrators to continue legal action to recover progress claims of more than $3 million owed to PBS Building NSW through the Security of Payments Act, the administrators said.
What happens next?
Among the next steps include determining the final value of the creditor claims and finalising the value of PBS assets available to creditors.
RSM Australia partner Jonathon Colbran said the administration process gave the team the powers to "identify, preserve and recover assets and money owing to the companies in order to preserve value for creditors".
Now as the appointed liquidators of four PBS companies, RSM Australia will continue collecting money owed, resolving competing creditor claims and rights to assets and obtaining directions from the court on PBS trust accounts.
"This is complex work that will take more than 12 months to complete as it is subject to factors and processes outside our control such as court timetables and timelines for the completion of projects," he said.
The Canberra Times spoke to several creditors ahead of Wednesday's meeting, most of whom expected the ACT company to be wound up.
Some creditors were frustrated by the process and believed they would not be repaid the money owed to them.
Others said they considered themselves lucky after being re-contracted to work on former PBS job sites under new builders.
Business owner Moe Nemati said he was owed more than $50,000 by PBS Building for work his business Chairman Painting Services completed in Coombs.
He was clueless as to whether he would ever see the money again and was prepared to not be paid "even one dollar".
"Same as everybody, I hope I get something," he said.
Mr Colbran said creditors have access to a dedicated email address and hotline that has allowed "thousands of direct communications to be received and dealt with by our team" over the past six months.
"We will continue to keep creditors updated and well informed on the progress of the liquidations and any material changes," he said.
Who will get paid?
Section 556 of the Corporations Act 2001 sets out the priority order in which debts are paid.
First payments go to the costs of liquidation, such as the insolvency practitioners fees, lawyers and cost of selling assets, followed by secured creditors, such as banks.
Priority unsecured creditors, including employees, are paid next followed by unsecured creditors.
In the report to creditors from June, RSM Australia said a dividend of 100 cents in the dollar was expected to be paid to priority creditors.
"The timing of this dividend is presently estimated to be within [three] months of the winding up of the companies," the report stated.
A dividend was also expected to be paid to unsecured creditors, however the value or timing were uncertain.
"In an external administration of this nature where the realisable values of assets and the creditor claims are fluid and constantly evolving it is not uncommon that the realisable value of assets is unknown and thus materially understated at these early stages, noting that the book value of the companies' assets exceeds $50 million," the report stated.
Among the assets listed in the report were trust and retention accounts, trade receivables and plant and equipment, including tools, IT equipment and office furniture.
Administrators' investigations also revealed PBS Building Pty Ltd had a non-controlling interest in Yimburu Pty Ltd which was understood to have been "incorporated to meet certain government eligibility criteria" but had no financial value.
PBS Building Pty Ltd also had a 50 per cent shareholding interest in Tablelands Steel Frame Pty Ltd and 100 per cent of shares in PBS Facilities Management Pty Ltd, both of which were found to have no value.
What happens to the directors?
The liquidation process also involves investigating the company's affairs and directors' actions before the liquidation period and determining whether there was any breach of director duties.
In the report to creditors, RSM Australia stated it was "not immediately certain that the directors and former directors have committed offences that require reporting to the ASIC".
"This includes our preliminary enquiries and investigations concerning possible insolvent trading that are set out herein."
Following Wednesday's decision to wind up four of the companies, the administrators will now undertake detailed investigations and any offences the liquidators believe have been committed will be detailed in a subsequent report.
PBS began in 1989 as Prestige Building Services under the helm of brothers Peter and Ian Carter.
Ian Carter and Adam Moore are the current directors of PBS Building.
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