The firm was originally set up and operated by a Dutch family who sold it to Karuturi Global in 2007.
It set its first debt trap in 2010 when it took a Sh227 million loan from CFC Stanbic Bank. Two years later, it went back to the lender in January 2013 where it took a dollar-denominated loan of $3.8 million which translates to about Sh380 million at the current exchange rates.
But by the end of the year, the operations of the firm were coming to a near standstill following incessant labour disputes. At this time, the firm was also struggling to make its debt repayments.
It was at this time that CFC Stanbic appointed Ian Small and Kieran Day as receiver managers from February 2014, who have now been replaced.
