Libertine faces cash crisis as loan funding fails to materialise

Libertine Holdings announced a significant financial setback on Monday, reporting that it had not received the anticipated loan funding from Reliant FZCO under a previously-agreed bridging loan agreement.

The AIM-listed company said it had expected to receive the first £0.11m tranche by 16 August, and a second tranche of the same amount by 14 September, but the funds had not been provided.

With cash reserves sufficient to maintain operations only until late August, Libertine said its board was now urgently seeking advice on the next steps.

That included evaluating the progress of a potential sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Libertine FPE, or its assets, as part of a process advised by Interpath Advisory.

That sale process was initially announced on 7 August.

If the sale or any other financial solution was not successfully concluded within the necessary timeframe, Libertine said it could face insolvency or enter administration by the end of August.

The company warned that under such circumstances, the timing or amount of any potential return to shareholders would be highly uncertain.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.