Creditors have voted to wind up Lex Greensill's insolvent trade financing empire, with uncertainty about how much money they can recover.
At a virtual meeting on Thursday morning, 41 creditors and their representatives gathered via video link, along with representatives from the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC the Attorney-General's Department and the Association of German Banks.
The administrators, from Grant Thornton, discussed their report, which had concluded that Greensill Capital Pty Limited was insolvent.
Just last year, Greensill had engaged in $143 billion of financing for 10 million customers in 175 countries.
The company was recently valued at $9 billion, before a cascading crisis induced by the effects of COVID-19 on some of its major customers, led credit insurers and then investment banks to pull the plug.
The report also outlined various attempts to sell parts of the Greensill business after it had been thrown into crisis, none of which had resulted in a transaction.
In those circumstances, 23 creditors, owed an estimated $1.7 billion, voted to liquidate the company.
Three creditors, owed almost $3 billion, abstained, while none voted against.
Grant Thornton to continue as Greensill liquidator
The creditors voted to keep the administrators — Matthew Byrnes, Phillip Campbell-Wilson and Michael McCann from Grant Thornton — on as liquidators.
The liquidators will continue their investigations into the finances and collapse of Greensill Capital Pty Limited.
They will also work to identify and sell available assets and monitor the continuing administrations of Greensill's subsidiaries in the UK and Germany.
A committee of inspection has been established to oversee the liquidation.
The members are representatives of major creditors, Softbank, Peter Greensill Family Trust, Credit Suisse, Earnd deferred consideration creditors, the Association of German Banks and an employee representative.
