rebeeca urban's article in today's australian

Heartbeat faint 26/6/09 Rebecca Urban Australian

REMAINING staff of failed heart pump maker Ventracor were given their marching orders on Wednesday. The news was delivered by administrator Ferrier Hodgson around 11am, after US buyer Siqro pulled out of its $10m offer at the weekend.

The Therapeutics Goods Administration and hospitals have been told of the company's closure.

It is believed Ferrier will now try to hive off the company's assets -- right down to the office stationery -- in a bid to repay creditors and cover its own fees.

Meanwhile, Ventracor's trusty corporate adviser, the US-based Cowen & Co, is no doubt kicking itself that the sale didn't go through. The investment bank has a sizeable contingent liability with its former client, which it tried unsuccessfully to offload last year, and again this year, before its collapse in March.

"Despite a failure to achieve a sale of the business at the time, Cowen & Co's contract provides for a fee to be paid of $US1.125m ($1.4m) on the sale of the company or its underlying assets," the Ventracor creditors' report points out.

That could explain the contents of an email sent by a Cowen & Co representative to the finance head at Berlin Heart, a German medical device company that had expressed interest in investing in or acquiring the troubled Ventracor.

"Thank you for your interest," Berlin's Sven-Rene Friedel was told. "However, I believe it is quite late in the process to get you involved."

The email was dated March 10. Nine days later, Ventracor called in the administrator, citing an inability to find a buyer or new investor. Creditors will now be asked to liquidate the company.

Shareholders and employees, including co-founder John Woodard, are trying to mount a proposal to buy back the company.