Six bids made for stricken reseller

Tech Data among largest creditors for Welsh education specialist Gaia

Six offers have been made for welsh education reseller Gaia, which fell into administration earlier this year.

According to the administrators' report, dated 8 October, the firm went bust owing £5.7m to unsecured creditors, with trade creditors owed £2.8m of this total.

Gaia owes distributor Tech Data £340,000, while Cisco and Amazon Web Services are indebted £174,000 and £105,000 respectively.

The administrators said it is unclear if any money will be available for unsecured creditors.

Gaia entered administration in August as a result of "severe cashflow issues".

The report also reveals that 94 companies expressed an interest in Gaia, with six offers being received for the business and certain assets.

A deadline for accepting an offer had been set for 14 October, but FRP Consulting told CRN today that offers are still being considered.

The report reveals that Gaia had grown revenue to over £19m in 2018, primarily through "new build contracts and their subsequent conversation to a managed service agreement".

This was however capital intensive for the firm, with profitability "insufficient to service its debt obligations".

The administrators said Gaia was "heavily insolvent" when it was appointed, claiming its "information platform was poor".

It added that a number of the reseller's projects were in danger of not being completed, with the Department of Education agreeing to pay money in advance to keep projects moving.

Gaia has continued to trade while in administration, with the administrators claiming this is the best chance of securing the sale of the business and its assets.

The report stated that 11 redundancies have been made so far, all in the firm's 3D division.

A number of lenders were also revealed to be owed hundreds of thousands of pounds, with White Oak UK and Funding Circle owed £703,000 and £500,000 respectively. HMRC is owed £866,148.