The Government yesterday outlined proposals which it hopes will increase the “transparency” of pre-packaged sales of companies that have gone into administration.

Edward Davey, the Minister for Employment Relations, Consumers and Postal Affairs at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, said the biggest concerns about pre-pack sales related to cases where the business and assets were sold back to the existing management. The measures being considered include a proposal that administrators should give three days notice to creditors where they propose to sell a significant proportion of the assets of a company or its business to a connected party, in circumstances where there has been no open marketing of the assets.

Mr Davey said : “The merits of pre-pack sales have continued to be the subject of much debate. I recognise that such sales offer a flexible and speedy means of rescue and can be the best way of maximising returns for creditors.

“We do not wish to outlaw them. But they must be done fairly and reasonably.”

01/04/2011 – Yorkshire Post