Agventure Farms Limited (In Administration)

Background

Agventure Farms Ltd was a start-up company incorporated in April 2020 with a mission to find innovative and pioneering Agri-tech solutions, to make vertical farming accessible to all. The company operated from two leasehold premises in Hampshire and produced two prototype containerised vertical farms, in two 40ft containers in their warehouse.

The industry has grown considerably in recent years, however it has struggled to adjust to the increase in the price of utilities. The company failed to generate any turnover during the time it traded, and the landlord was placing increasing pressure on the company to repay rent arrears that were owed. The company appointed Neil Money and Steven Glanvill of CBA business Solutions Ltd as Joint Administrators on 8th December 2023.

Our Role

Hilco were engaged by CBA Business Solutions Ltd to undertake site inspections at the Company’s two leasehold premises, in December 2023, to schedule the plant and machinery and other assets owned by the company.

After the company was placed into Administration, Hilco were responsible for the security of the site and the assets on site, the locks were changed and Hilco undertook periodic visits to the site.

Hilco then undertook a marketing campaign of the business and assets, sending a flyer and NDA’s to our database of business buyers, as well as parties that we identified as working in the same sector.

Whilst this process yielded some interest, a buyer could not be found for the assets and business in-situ, so Hilco was instructed to dispose of the assets for removal from the premises. The general warehouse equipment, fabrication equipment and stock were all sold by online auction given their general appeal, whilst the specialist prototype equipment and intellectual property were sold by private treaty tender, run concurrently with the online auction.

Hilco was responsible for all aspects of the auction and private treaty tender, from cataloguing and arranging viewings, to marketing and overseeing payment and complex decommissioning and collections.

Once all sales and collections were complete, recommendations for clearance of rubbish and tidying up were recommended and completed and the keys returned.