ATL Closed Down

The Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) has been closed down indefinitely, as auctioneers from Vans Mart are preparing feverishly to auction the firm to defray its indebtedness to financiers. ATL, over the years, has reportedly defaulted in the repayment of loans it secured from banks such as Ecobank, Standard Chartered, Ghana Commercial Bank, (GCB) Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) and Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), among others. On Friday, October 24, 2014, court bailiffs in the company of police officers and legal representatives of some of the banks were seen putting huge padlocks on the gates of ATL to prevent workers and management from entering the premises. Information gathered by BUSINESS GUIDE indicated that during the latter part of 2013, Ecobank and two other banks, Standard Chartered Bank and Universal Merchant Bank Ltd commenced separate legal actions against ATL at the Commercial Division of the High Court in Accra. A source revealed that all attempts by the company to get government assistance failed after the start of proceedings. This compelled the court to freeze the assets of ATL to settle its indebtedness. The banks have since attached the assets of the company to protect their various interests. The execution process involved the closure of the entire factory and seizure of movable assets, including the company�s Mercedes Urvan buses with registration numbers GT7317 U and GT 7316 U and eventual sale of the property. A source told BUSINESS GUIDE that �in our estimation ATL would be no more by the end of the year if steps are not taken to stop Ecobank and the other banks from selling the assets of ATL.� According to the source, there was the need for an urgent bailout from the government to save ATL �because about 1,000 employees would lose their livelihood if ATL is sold by mid-December 2014.� Friday�s execution team included the auctioneers (Vans Mart), police officers and court bailiffs. The team was led by John-Mark Alifo Esq, Senior Legal Officer at Ecobank and William Asare Bediako, Head of Remedial at Ecobank. Both men politely declined to speak to the paper. Efforts to speak to lawyers for the bank- BA Williams & Co (Sackodar Chambers) and the Human Resource Manager of ATL, E. K Darko proved unsuccessful.