McDonald Vague receivers Tony Maginness and Peri Finnigan have been appointed to eHome NZ Ltd.

The company has four projects under way spread over 20 to 30 sites and 15 houses in progress, Ms Finnigan told NZ Newswire.

“We’re trying to find an interested party who will carry on those projects,” she said.

About 44 staff have been made redundant and 58 remain at the company.

The receivers were appointed by a private security holder who ranks behind the banker but ahead of unsecured creditors.

Creditors are owned more than $15 million.

Some potential buyers of the business have already seen around its premises and more have contacted the receivers on Friday. An advertisement will appear in Saturday’s Weekend Herald.

When Prime Minister John Key opened eHome’s Kumeu factory in June 2013 the company employed 55 people and had a partnership with the Salvation Army.

The facility was the first in New Zealand to use European concepts and equipment to produce conventional New Zealand apartments and homes in a factory.

The company aimed to focus on low rise, three and four-storeyed, apartments and said it was well-placed “to assist in the challenge of New Zealand’s affordable housing shortage”.

 

By Pam Graham