AUTO GROUP LIMITED (ASX.ALO)

company deregistered 23/03/2012

liquidators advise that, based on Counsel's written opinion, the Liquidators will not take any further action as there is unlikely to be any substantial recovery available to the Liquidators based on the information obtained from the examinations - liquidators have written to the Receivers requesting an estimated timeframe for completion of the receivership and are hopeful that both external administrations are able to be finalised in the near future - they note in this regard that the company shell is no longer available for sale, due to a lack of funding available to the Liquidators to maintain the listing fees

liquidators are awaiting final advice from Counsel arising out of the public examinations of directors and third parties before deciding whether to proceed with any potential claims for breaches of the Corporations Act - the liquidation is largely dormant at this time pending the finalisation of the receiverships (liquidators are in the process of requesting advice on this at the moment) - a report to creditors on the liquidation will be issued within the next 4 to 6 weeks

a loss declaration has been issued and the capital loss can therefore be claimed in the financial year the declaration is issued

liquidators confirm there have been no significant developments - in fact, they are still awaiting the return of all signed transcripts from the public examination process

delisted following failure to pay listing fee

liquidators advise that the initial examinations of directors have been concluded - at present they are awaiting the receipt of the transcripts from the court and upon receipt, will be determining whether to re-examine individuals/examine additional individuals and/or determine whether they wish to proceed with recovery actions - they do not envisage any distribution to shareholders except insofar as there may be nominal residual value in the shares, were the shell of the company to be sold

liquidators report that public examinations of the directors in November and December will help them determine whether to proceed with recovery actions and explore the possibility of a sale of the company shell

liquidator confirms that all companies were placed into liquidation pursuant to the second creditors' meeting held on 6 June 2006 - due to a shortfall experienced by the secured creditor, it is unlikely that unsecured creditors will receive a dividend - public examinations of directors will be conducted late in 2006

at the second meeting of creditors, creditors resolve that the Group be wound up and that SJ Parbery and MJ Robinson of PPB be appointed liquidators - it is considered that there is no likelihood of a dividend to unsecured creditors

second meeting of creditors to be held today to determine whether the company should execute a deed of company arrangement, the administration should end or the company be wound up - the administrators believe the group may have been trading while insolvent since October 2005 and are now recommending the group be wound up

the Administrators consider that while many factors contributed to the companies' failure, the key reason was the discovery of accounting irregularities that existed in the financial statements - these irregularities were announced to the ASX and, as a result, consumer confidence in the Group declined - given the nature of the business, this decline resulted in a decrease in turnover which ultimately caused the failure of the Group as a whole (would the group still be alive had the accounting irregularities been covered up?)

the administrators are about to report to creditors - we should have a clearer view of where the administration is at, in about a week

A.P. Eagers Limited announces that it has reached agreement with the receivers of Auto Group Auctions Qld Pty Ltd, Ferrier Hodgson, to acquire the assets of Auto Group's Brisbane based motor vehicle auction business

first meetings of creditors held

shares suspended from quotation following the appointment of SJ Parbery and MJ Robinson of PPB as administrators - in the opinion of the company's board the company and its subsidiaries are insolvent or likely to become insolvent - this does not augur well for shareholders but it is too early to speculate on the outcomes - it will probably be at least several weeks before anything meaningful is available to shareholders

shares reinstated to quotation

following preliminary investigations into the 2005 Financial Statements by the newly appointed Chief Financial Officer of Auto Group, the board of Auto Group has formed the view that the consolidated net profit of Auto Group and its controlled entities for the year ended 30 June 2005 was overstated in the 2005 Financial Statements by approximately $4.5 million before tax - the company has requested that the suspension of its shares be lifted

shares suspended from quotation pending the release of an announcement regarding the company's investigations into its financial position (investigations of the financial statements are necessary to "ascertain whether or not they are accurate - while it is too early to know for certain, it is possible that irregularities may exist in those financial statements and that they may have a material impact on Auto Group's financial position as stated in its 2005 annual report")

the Board of A.P. Eagers Limited has reached in principle agreement with the Board of Auto Group Limited to explore a merger of the two companies - the respective Boards have yet to determine the consideration and whether that consideration would involve cash, shares in AP Eagers or a combination of both

annual report and accounts lodged and shares reinstated to quotation

shares suspended following failure to lodge full year accounts for period ended 30 June 2003

name changed from Auto Logistics and Auctions Group Limited