Shipbroker Braemar Shipping Services expects not to be paid an agreed £2.635m ($3.63m) for the sale of its gas consultancy Wavespec as it anticipates the buyer will not produce the funds.
In a formal announcement on Friday following questions put to the company by TradeWinds on Tuesday, Braemar said it believes it will likely make a loss of £900,000 on the deal.
The anticipated collapse of the sale of what was the last of Braemar’s non-core assets, will leave Wavespec’s eight staff without jobs and having not been paid for the last two months.
It comes at a time when Braemar’s top three officials, including chief executive James Gundy, have been awarded a series of shares worth £1.28m alongside earlier share option packages.
Obligations
Braemar announced the sale of Wavespec to Dutch-registered Wavespec Holding on 1 April.
Investment fund Cosmos SICAV, which is managed by Abalone Asset Management, was later named by Wavespec as the buyer.
In its statement today Braemar said: “If the purchaser does not fulfil its obligations regarding the consideration, which the Board now believes is likely, Braemar will charge a predominantly non-cash loss from discontinued operations of £0.9m in its accounts for the year ending February 2022.”
It added: “Whilst Braemar took security over the shares of Wavespec, Braemar has no financial or operating interest in Wavespec following the sale.”
We look forward to continuing to work with them under their new ownership and seeing the business thrive
James Gundy
Making the announcement the shipbroker said it was responding to speculation that the buyer of the Wavespec business has not fulfilled certain contractual obligations, with the result that Wavespec is unlikely to be able to continue to operate.
TradeWinds contacted Braemar chief executive James Gundy and chief operating officer Nicholas Stone on Tuesday 15 June with a list of questions about the sale, Braemar’s handling of it and its next steps, but received no response.
No cash
This publication has learned that the buyer behind the venture, Cezar Badilla — who also spells his name Cesar Badilla — has yet to pay any monies to Wavespec.
Badilla is understood to be the Swiss-based buyer behind investment fund Cosmos SICAV.
Those working with Wavespec said that with the buyer not putting agreed monies into the business, the company has been unable to move forward on new contracts as it has no operating capital.
Wavespec’s eight staff have not been paid under the new ownership and are now seeking other jobs. At least one is understood to have already found new employment.
When contacted, Wavespec managing partner Sheila McClain confirmed there has been cash flow issues to the point were the company can no longer operate.
In reply to questions, Badilla told TradeWinds he would respond with an update on the status of the deal and his plans this week. But he has yet to provide further information.
Announcing the Wavespec sale on 1 April, Gundy said: "The disposal of Wavespec is in line with our stated strategy of refocusing Braemar on its shipbroking core, and I am therefore pleased that we have been able to find suitable buyers.
"We look forward to continuing to work with them under their new ownership and seeing the business thrive."
Since Braemar announced the sale of Wavespec at the start of April, its shares have risen 50% from 200p to a 52-week high of 303p earlier this week. Today they were trading at 282p.
