Trade union Solidarity described as a “huge victory” the fact that negotiations with prospective buyers for Atlantis Forge, in the Western Cape, could now start, after provisional liquidators were reportedly appointed on Monday.

The union said that employees at the distressed automotive component firm had not received salaries since January.

Spokesperson Ilze Nieuwoudt said that the manufacturer, which had come under pressure as a result of the global economic crisis and the decline in new vehicle sales, retrenched about 60 employees in January.

Another 400 employees were currently still employed at Atlantis Forge, she said.

The manufacturer had officially been placed under provisional liquidation by the Cape High Court last week.

Johan Engelbrecht of Icon Insolvency Practitioners had reportedly now been appointed as one of four provisional liquidators.

Solidarity said that the provisional liquidation would assist in getting the manufacturer back on track as soon as possible, highlighting that a number of other companies had already shown an interest in acquiring the manufacturer.

In February, another engineering group in the Western Cape, Cape Manufacturing Engineering (CME), had reported that two of its subsidiaries faced liquidation unless it could obtain financing from the Industrial Development Corporation.

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