Scramble for funding as Daybreak creditors close in
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is engaged in a desperate last-minute cash scramble to prevent its embattled chicken producer, Daybreak Foods, going into liquidation.
A request for R500m in funding from clients, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Compensation Fund (CF) – needed by Friday to avert the finalisation of a liquidation application before the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) – was not successful.
The corporation has appointed a ‘new board’ in a bid to save the dying company.
In a letter requesting the funding, seen by the Sunday Times this week, the PIC said that since the last request for cash on 12 May, three Daybreak creditors – including Lakat Chicken – had brought an urgent liquidation application, which was set down to be heard on Tuesday.
PIC chief investment officer Kabelo Rikhotso said the applicants seek a final winding-up order based on an alleged debt of R19 866 678.
‘We have been advised by our legal counsel that the pleadings suggest that there is limited to no prospects of successfully opposing liquidation, and any further opposition will prove unimpactful,’ he noted.
The company has received R250m from the Government Employees Pension Fund – the PIC’s largest funder, with R2trn of its money managed there.
This latest development puts about 3 400 workers' jobs on the line.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
