Last week merger talks with Lagan Group Holdings came to an end. On Friday Peter Allen of Deloitte, was appointed administrator of Mivan (No.1) Ltd.
Mivan No.1 employs 289 people and is the main trading company created from a restructuring of the group in 2012 after it made huge losses on projects in Romania.
Mr Allen said: “With the support of key stakeholders, including the bank, the business will continue to trade while all options are assessed.”
Mivan chief executive Dr Ivan McCabrey said that while the global market for specialist construction and fit-out was recovering, competition was intense and pressures on margins and liquidity favoured the biggest international companies. He said “For some time we have been seeking to increase our international capacity and competitiveness through consolidation within the specialist construction and fit-out sector.
“I am aware that there has been considerable speculation around this issue and I can now confirm that our discussions have not resulted in agreement.
“Consequently, the directors have been reviewing future options in conjunction with our bankers and professional advisors.
“It is with regret therefore; that the directors have today sought the protection of administration in order to preserve the future options of the business.”
Mivan holds a Queen’s award for exports and previous contracts include re-roofing the historic Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem and fit-out of the Scottish parliament in Holyrood.
Mivan was also the largest general contractor on the construction of Euro Disney in Paris in the 1990s and undertook theme park development for Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It also fits out cruise ships.
The company was founded in 1975 by the current chief executive Ivan McCabrey, while he was still an engineering student at Queen’s University, Belfast.
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