Murray & Roberts Limited (MRL) – currently under business rescue – says its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) have secured an additional R80-million in post-commencement finance (PCF), which builds on prior PCF support secured since it entered voluntary business rescue in November last year.

The funding, to date, has been instrumental in stabilising MRL’s business rescue proceedings, providing the BRPs with the time to develop, secure the adoption of, and advance the implementation of a business rescue plan.

The PCF has also enabled the BRPs to manage unavoidable retrenchments within MRL itself and to honour statutory severance obligations to affected employees in full, the BRPs point out.

The additional R80-million facility, which is provided by the Differential consortium, further strengthens MRL’s ability to sustain momentum toward completion of the transaction, realising value for creditors and better outcomes for all affected parties.

The business rescue plan is underpinned by the acquisition of MRL’s mining-related subsidiary businesses, including the Cementation operations in both Africa and the Americas, by a group of investors led by investment management firm Differential Capital.

Once completed, the transaction is expected to safeguard about 2 800 jobs across these businesses, with a particular emphasis on preserving South African jobs in Cementation Africa.

The BRPs reiterate that the adopted business rescue plan represents the most sustainable and viable path forward. Its successful implementation is expected to protect livelihoods and also preserve scarce technical skills across the mining and engineering sectors.

Further, the BRPs have noted some confusion regarding the recent liquidation application brought against Murray & Roberts Holdings (MRH).

They stress that MRH and MRL are separate and distinct legal entities.

MRH is the ultimate holding company, while MRL is a downstream subsidiary with several intermediate entities in between.

The liquidation of MRH has no impact on the ongoing business rescue proceedings of MRL, nor on the operations of the businesses being sold to the Differential consortium, which continue to deliver in the normal course, they say.