UPDATE On GNG Situation
I have now had a response from our lawyers as to legal stance on this matter and can confirm the following:
1. Grupo Sanchez have NOT filed for Bankruptcy. The have filed for what in spanish is known as “el concurso voluntario de acreedores” or “suspension pagos”. This is the first stages of Bankruptcy in Spain and is the same as CVA in the UK (or corporate voluntary administration). This means that the adminstrators take over the fiscal management of the companies debt (which is reported to be 97m€) and work with creditors until there is a resolution to the companies problems. This is different to bankrutpcy, as the company still has sufficient assets to offset this debt. This can proceed to Bankruptcy or Insolvency if no improvement is seen after a period of time (usually 6 months)
2. All reservation deposits paid over to Grupo Sanchez were paid on a non refundable basis in accordance with the reservation contract and will not be refunded unless GS become in breach of this contract (ie fail to get their final license within a 12 month period of the date of the reservation contract) for the bulk of you this is End of May / beginning of June.
3. The reservation deposits are guaranteed by Barclays Bank in Spain and each buyer has 30 days from the expiration of each reservation contract in which to make the claim to Barclays. If GS declare Bankruptcy prior to this date, the Bank Guarantees will still stand.
Additional Questions
Q: I have lost faith in this project, and wish to cancel irresepctive of whether licences are granted or not. Can I claim a refund?
A: At the current time, it appears not! You have to either wait until the expiration of your reservation contract or to see if the company files for bankruptcy prior to this date, in which cases the bank Guarantees will kick in. If you decide to pull out irrespective of this, you will lose your deposit.
Q: If GS do declare they have received full building permission, how will we know for sure?
A: No lawyer will proceed to contract signing and next stage payment without first seeing copies of the granted liicenses. I will also be requesting a copy of this license from GS in order to show to all buyers.
Q: I have been advised that GS do not own the land or the licenses granted to date for Elegance Natal Golf. How does this effect the situation?
A: GS are a registered company in Spain. In order to build in Brazil you must be either linked to a Brazilian registered company who holds the title and the licenses for you or have a Brazilian registered company yourself. GS have a partner in Brazil under a different name whom the title and licenses are registered to. This is why this project is advertised as not being troubled by these financial difficulties.
Q: If I proceed to the next payment of 30%, will there be further guarantees backed by Barclays?
A: At this stage I cannot comment on this as I have no information. I believe the original plan was to guarantee the next stage payment but at this stage I have no details as to who is backing this guarantee or if indeed it will exist at all.
I know this news is bad news to all of us, and I am still working with the lawyers to see if there is anything we can do to dodge these legalities. The lawyers have advised that they doubt that the licenses will be granted in the given time frame as there are too many environmental issues causing the delays. We have to wait to see on this score.
Please do not be disheartened at this stage. I am still working on your behalf and will continue to do so until we reach a satisfactory resolution.
I will of course keep you all informed every step of the way.
Kind regards
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