Pre-pack confirmed for I Am IT
Troubled services and solutions provider officially enters administration
City of London reseller I Am IT has entered into a pre-pack form of administration.
As reported by ChannelWeb, last month saw distributor Exertis Micro-P issue a winding-up petition for the company as a result of unpaid debts.
Essex-headquartered insolvency practice Aspect Plus was appointed the administrator on 8 October.
Darren Tapsfield, senior manager at Aspect Plus, said the relevant paperwork is now being prepared and going out to creditors.
The amount of liabilities is believed to be about £700,000 at this point "but it may go up", Tapsfield confirmed, with full details likely to be made public mid-November.
In a pre-pack, an insolvent firm packages up its assets – plans for a restructure and arranges a purchaser – before the administrator is appointed.
The move can be controversial when the assets are simply sold back to the owner or directors who got the company in trouble in the first place – creating a "phoenix" company – or if it is used to circumvent the need to pay creditors.
As reported exclusively in ChannelWeb last month, I Am IT managing director Leo Smuga blamed the financial problems on "difficult" trading conditions and the state of the economy, which led to a £640,690 loss filed for the year ending 31 March 2013.
That was down from a £438,601 profit in the year ending March 2012.
Turnover for the same year had slowed by half. And the disposal of Autodata Products, another group in the company, had dug the reseller deeper into trouble.
I Am IT had about 13 staff at the time of the winding-up petition in late September, having reduced staff numbers from 20 in April 2014, with about three to be potentially rehired in the event of pre-pack, Smuga told ChannelWeb.
Twenty-eight-year-old I Am IT had a string of blue-chip vendors in its stable, including VMware, Cisco, Microsoft and NetApp and customers around the globe including the BBC.
Markets included energy, financial services, gaming/casinos, public sector, and media.
UPDATE: Since this story was published, Autodata Products got in touch to clarify its association with I Am IT.
It said: "In March 2013, Autodata Products and its holding company, Axion Holdings, split by statutory demerger to pursue their own separate ways under independent management and ownership. The latter set up in new premises trading as I Am IT under the directorship of Leo Smuga. In October 2014, I Am IT was placed in administration.
"The figures mentioned in the article as filed with Companies House for the twelve months ending 31 June 2012 and for a reset period of nine months ending 31 March 2013 relate to the combined company status prior to the demerger.
"Following the demerger, Autodata Products retained the existing registered company and premises. Autodata Products was established in 1986 and continues to be led by Dominic McLoughlin who has served as one of its Directors since 2008. The business filed a turnover of £6,719,976 with profit of £313,828 for the 12 months ending 31 March 2014."