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The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has placed Remnant Wealth Holdings into provisional liquidation following an appeal brought by a subsidiary of Imperial, a multi-national logistics solutions company.
In an appeal against a judgment and order issued by the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, which dismissed Imperial's application for the final liquidation of Remnant, the SCA this week set aside that order, and instead ordered that Remnant be placed under provisional liquidation.
According to the judgment, which was handed down on Monday, Remnant was indebted to an Imperial subsidiary – KWS Logistics – to the tune of over R80.8 million.
In 2018, Remnant won a bid to provide logistical services to South 32, a major diversified miner, for the transportation of manganese products from South32's operations in Hotazel and Meyerton to various ports. Because Remnant did not have sufficient trucks to transport the products, KWS provided transport services on behalf of Remnant to South32.
While Remnant received R304.4 million from South32 for the services, it failed to pay off its debt to KWS.
The SCA, in its judgment, found Remnant's reasons for its failure to pay KWS "inexplicable", along with its refusal to account for the revenue received from South32.
Imperial brought the liquidation application on July 2020, arguing Remnant is insolvent and unable to pay its debts and should be wound up as a result. Remnant denied this was the case.
While the high court had dismissed Imperial's application for Remnant's liquidation for want of urgency, the SCA said the court had erred in failing to recognise that winding-up applications are by their very nature urgent.
The SCA further dismissed Remnant's application for a postponement, with costs, concluding that Imperial could suffer more prejudice if postponement were granted.
