Most of the 300 bar jobs at stake in the receivership proceedings concerning 20 South Island hotels are likely "to be preserved", receivers McGrath Nicol said yesterday.
Four New Zealand companies under the CEA banner were placed in the hands of receivers on Wednesday by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, owing an unspecified amount of money.
The receivers are still not releasing a list of the 20 licensed premises, which will continue trading, but they include two premises in Wanaka, another in Queenstown and several in Christchurch and Nelson.
"We are making good progress in stabilising the operations of the [CEA] group and are working closely with the employees in this regard," receiver Andrew Grenfell said in a statement yesterday.
In March 2007, New South Wales hospitality investor CEA Trading Ltd, of Australia, paid $38 million to buy 27 bars from the New Zealand Hospitality Group, a company formed by former Dunedin men Mike Cates and Ricky Quirk, but it was on-sold again.
Yesterday, the receivers said CEA Trading Ltd (Australia) was a separate company and it had "no knowledge of this entity".
