CREDITORS owed $150 million by collapsed payment system operator Bill Express have been told they are unlikely to receive any payment at all in the wind-up of the company.
Administrator Craig Crosbie, of corporate recovery firm PPB, said the company's financial records indicated it was carrying debts of $209 million at the time it was placed into administration earlier this month.
Among the creditors are ANZ, owed $53 million, and finance company Assetsecure, which is owed $13 million.
Telcos Optus, Vodafone, 3 Mobile and Telstra are thought to be owed more than $100 million combined.
However, the debt figure could be revised upwards following a claim by European financier CCH that it was owed $49 million by Bill Express, rather than the $10 million figure included in the company accounts.
But regardless of the final figure claimed, most claims will go unpaid as only ANZ and Assetsecure rank as secured creditors.
"From the unsecured creditors' point of view it's not looking very good at all ... I think it's highly unlikely they'll get a return," Mr Crosbie said following a creditors' meeting in Melbourne yesterday.
The administrators last week invited expressions of interest from prospective buyers of the company, which could provide some funds to repay secured creditors.
However, Mr Crosbie said he would be surprised if the amount raised was anywhere near the $66 million owed to ANZ and Assetsecure.
The administrators had also demanded repayment of $94 million worth of third-party loans made by Bill Express, but Mr Crosbie said he had little hope the money would be repaid.
Among the borrowers were Bill Express's parent company, On Q, which owns the intellectual property behind the Bill Express payment network. Mr Crosbie said On Q owed Bill Express $22 million.
Another related company, TB Group, provided staff and infrastructure to Bill Express and owed $61 million through two subsidiary companies.
However, most of the debts were owed by companies that were now in various stages of administration themselves.
"Those companies are so intertwined that trying to trace the funds and work out the transactions is a mammoth job," he said.
The corporate regulator has taken an interest in the collapse and is keeping in close contact with the administrators, who are due to issue a first creditors' report later this month............................................... there goes another 20 grand
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