First National Bank withdrew liquidation proceedings against the 166-year old packaging company EH Walton in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Thursday morning.
Company attorney Michael White told Algoa FM News that FNB had acknowledged that the company, which employs 450 people countrywide, was in business rescue.
White said with the legal challenge out of the way, the business rescue practitioner could now begin work to get EH Walton back on its feet.
"The next job is to deal with the immediate logistical challenge of getting production going and getting people back to work and of course the more longer term challenge is to restore profitability in the long term to be able to make the business sustainable. That will only of course come out in time, but the initial reports from the business rescue practitioner David Honeyball of Grant Thornton is that there is a very sound case to be made out for long term sustainability based on the proposed restructure" White said.
Meanwhile, EH Walton Managing Director Alan Clarke told AlgoaFM business news that not all 450 employees countrywide would be getting their jobs back.
"we have lost business and with the current work load we are not quite sure what has been eroded. We will slowly call people back as and when we can put them into positions, but unfortunately we will not be in a position to actually re-employ everybody that was with us prior to this motion by FNB" Clarke Said
