Eureka banks on CVA to clear financial woes

Apple reseller Eureka & Macay Technologies is hoping to solve its debt crisis by getting the go-ahead for a creditors' voluntary agreement (CVA) this week.

The Maidenhead company has had problems since taking over Leicester Computer Company and Peterborough Computer Systems in the summer of 1997. It has also suffered from the general uncertainty surrounding Apple's future.

Tim Sommers, MD of Eureka, was confident the CVA would go ahead. He claimed the reseller would pay a minimum of 60p in the pound and already had a verbal agreement from 75 per cent of its creditors. A creditors' meeting is due to be held on 20 February.

Sommers said the reseller had been profitable until June 1997 when it took over Leicester Computer Company and Peterborough Computer Centres from the official receiver. Sommers said, at the time, seven parties were interested but after due diligence no offers were made. He conceded that with hindsight, 'alarm bells should have rung - the companies knew the market better than I did'.

Sommers said the two branches received between 20 and 30 complaints a week. From June to October 1997, this led to losses of about a quarter of a million pounds. He also alleged 'a high level of pilfering - lots of machines went missing'.

Both branches were closed at the end of last year. Sommers said the Maidenhead branch remained stable and profitable.