By James Wells
BRISBANE: Since he was installed as receiver and manager of Betta Stores Limited (BSL), Phil Carter of PricewaterhouseCoopers has asked the bidders to "show me the money", now it is time for the bidders to deliver on their promises.
The head of the retail consortium bid for the BSL franchise business, Everard Johnson, has told Current.com.au that it is time for the retailers looking to regain control of the business to deliver on their offer for a financial pledge.
"Talk is cheap, so now it is a case of getting the money in the trust account so we can go to the receiver," Johnson told Current.com.au
"We believe we have a good mix of the big members and the small members and a successful offer, but the only problem at this stage is the cash. From day one, the receiver has said to us: ‘Show me the money’ – and that is precisely what we plan to do."
Johnson said there is a strong family of members within the group that would like to retain ownership of the business.
The exact amount of money received at this stage is unclear due to the delay with the electronic transfer of payments and truncated communication through the BSL intranet and information technology systems.