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The planned management buyout at AFM could be completed within days as the would-be purchasers were yesterday named the 'preferred buyer' by the liquidators.
The firm has been in a precarious position since its parent company went into administration last week.
The Garenne Group had been a major player in the Channel Island construction and engineering sectors for decades.
It went under last week with Interpath Advisory and KPMG Advisory appointed as joint liquidators. They are now overseeing the sale of any assets to try and repay creditors of the insolvent Group.
The team at AFM say they are working "intensively" with the liquidators and they had hoped the management buyout could be completed this week.
Pictured: The collapse of the Garenne Group was confirmed late last Friday.
The AFM spokesperson said they have been conscious of the widespread interest in the firm's future and the uncertainty of this week "given the contagion impact GCGL has had on AFM and the disruption that has been caused whilst AFM has been de-coupled from the wider Group’s banking facilities".
Work to 'de-couple' the businesses continues, with Rabeys Garage going under in the days after Garenne was deemed to be insolvent. Express has asked Granite Le Pelley for an update on its current standing too.
AFM's statement continued, explaining that the Management Team has been named as preferred bidder to acquire the Garenne Group's shareholding in AFM and that "while we still have some work to do to get the transaction over the line, on completion the existing AFM business would continue, as usual, under new ownership."
AFM is based at the Vale Castle Industrial Estate, having relocated there from Garenne Park in St Sampson's.
Pictured: AFM and Rabeys are both based at the Vale Castle Industrial Estate.
The facilities management and building services provider continues to work with its clients as normal, prior to Garenne going under, and said it looks forward to continuing that work once the management buy-out has been completed.
"We are now working intensively with the liquidators of GCGL to complete this transaction, with a target that it will be finalised by the end of this week," said the AFM spokesperson on Thursday. "The bid is fully funded, including significant working capital to allow us to normalise our supplier positions and ensure our employees are paid as normal.
"The management team are enormously grateful for the support given the events over the last few days. We look forward to updating you when these matters are resolved and moving forward under new ownership continuing to demonstrate our commitment to our loyal colleagues, our valued customers and suppliers, and our local communities."
Pictured: When Camerons went into administration in Jersey its building sites were left empty with no further work happening.
The Garenne Construction Group was found to be insolvent soon after its Jersey based firm Camerons went into administration last month.
Several other businesses which had previously come under the Garenne umbrella had already left the Group through management buyouts before the current troubles became apparent.
Geomarine in Guernsey was one such case with the management buy out of the engineering firm being completed in January of this year.
RG Falla had also split from the Garenne Group prior to the collapse of the parent company.
The construction firm is now said to be focusing on 'small works' despite previously being involved in some of the largest projects in the island's recent history, such as the Grammar School and Royal Court buildings.
RG Falla and Garenne were closely linked with a shared Chairman for a while in Stuart Falla, whose father was RG Falla.
Pictured: The Geomarine management buy out was completed some months ago.
Garenne's liquidation is being overseen by Geoff Jacobs and David Standish from Interpath Advisory and Linda Johnson and Leonard Gerber from KPMG Advisory.
When Garenne was placed into administration, Mr Jacobs said: “Our intention is to retain six employees for a period of time to continue the provision of certain head office functions to the wider group entities where appropriate to do so and we will also seek to realise the shares in certain subsidiaries. We thank the employees in advance for their support during this challenging time.”
Ms Johnson added that the insolvency of the Group "has been precipitated due to the various guaranteees it provided which have been called upon. Anyone with an interest in any subsidiary entity should make immediate contact with the Liquidators".
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