Penny applies for IVA to fend off bankruptcy

Mike Penny, former managing director of defunct reseller Omni Solutions, has narrowly held off the prospect of bankruptcy by filing for an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA).

Penny, a consultant at Tilven Computers, faced a bankruptcy petition filed by distributor Ideal Hardware and was due to appear at Slough County Court on 25 November. However, he appointed London insolvency practitioners Ian Frances Associates on 20 November to handle an IVA and apply to court for an interim order under Section 257 of the 1986 Insolvency Act.

Tilven bought the trading arm and Omni brand when the reseller fell into administrative receivership in August (PC Dealer, 19 August).

Ideal was a creditor for Omni and is owed #30,138. Eddy Pacey, credit manager at Ideal, exclusively told PC Dealer: 'We had to seek security to give us some cover.'

A creditors' meeting will be held on 14 December, where 75 per cent of creditors must approve of the IVA, as Penny will attempt to clear a percentage of the debt to each creditor on a monthly basis.

Recruitment agency Everstreet had a debenture in favour of Omni granted in July and is owed #69,706.34. This is in contrast to a debt of #40,000 which company secretary Ismail Mustofa had claimed was loaned to Omni out of 'personal friendship' for Penny.

Neither Penny nor Mustofa, who worked at Omni's former accountant, was available to comment.