Corporate Simplification to Release Cash

Resulted in a tax efficient £8m cash distribution

A group of four manufacturing sector companies presented a particularly complex case for our specialists. The group was made up of a dormant company, a company registered in the Isle of Man, a trading company, and a holding company. The trading company had ceased to operate and there was no longer a requirement for any of the companies to remain active.

The challenge was to extinguish the various entities and to release the cash in the most efficient manner.

In total, £7.83m was reimbursed from the holding company to individual shareholders after all the dividends had been distributed upstream through the group. All creditors were paid and, after working closely with tax advisors, a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) was considered the most tax-efficient way of distributing the cash surplus back to the holding company’s shareholders.