liquidation

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Related to Members' voluntary liquidation: Creditors voluntary liquidation

Liquidation

Occurs when a firm's business is terminated. Assets are sold, proceeds are used to pay creditors, and any leftovers are distributed to shareholders. Any transaction that offsets or closes out a long or short position. Related: Buy in, evening up, offset liquidity.

Liquidation

The conversion to cash. Liquidating a position may simply mean selling stock or bonds; the seller in this case receives the cash. Liquidation also refers to a situation in which a company ceases operations and sells as many assets as it can; the company uses the cash to repay debt and, if possible, shareholders. Liquidation often has a negative connotation for this reason. See also: Panic selling.

liquidation

1. The conversion of assets into cash. Just as a company may liquidate an entire subsidiary by selling it to another firm, so too may an investor liquidate by selling a particular type of security.

2. The paying of a debt.

3. The selling of assets and the paying of liabilities in anticipation of going out of business.

Case Study If eliminating dividends, laying off employees, selling subsidiaries, restructuring debt, and, finally, reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy fail to resuscitate a business, the likely outcome is liquidation. Early 2001 witnessed the end of the line for Tennessee-based retailer Service Merchandise, a 42-year-old chain of catalog showrooms that proved unable to compete with large discounters such as Wal-Mart. Following a three-year attempt at reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the firm announced it would close all 216 stores and liquidate its inventories and real estate. It was expected the asset liquidation would result in creditors being paid only a portion of their claims while stockholders of the company would receive nothing. The firm's stock was trading over the counter for 2¢ per share at the time of the announcement.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

liquidation

the process by which a JOINT-STOCK COMPANY'S existence as a legal entity ceases by the winding-up of the company Such a process can be initiated at the behest of the CREDITORS where the company is insolvent (a compulsory winding-up), or by the company directors or SHAREHOLDERS, in which case it is known as a voluntary winding-up.

The person appointed as liquidator, either by the company directors/shareholders or by the creditors, sells off the company's ASSETS for as much as they will realize. The proceeds of the sale are used to discharge any outstanding liabilities to the creditors of the company. If there are insufficient funds to pay all creditors (INSOLVENCY), preferential creditors are paid first (for example the INLAND REVENUE for tax due), then ordinary creditors pro rata. If there is a surplus after payment of all creditors this is distributed pro rata amongst the ordinary shareholders of the company. See also LIMITED LIABILITY, SHAREHOLDERS, CAPITAL.

liquidation

the process by which a JOINT-STOCK COMPANY's existence as a legal entity ceases by ‘winding up’ the company. Such a process can be initiated at the behest of the CREDITORS where the company is insolvent (a compulsory winding-up) or by the company directors or SHAREHOLDERS, in which case it is known as a voluntary winding-up.

The person appointed liquidator, either by the company directors/shareholders or the creditors, sells off the company's ASSETS for as much as they will realize. The proceeds of the sale are used to discharge any outstanding liabilities to the creditors of the company. If there are insufficient funds to pay all creditors (INSOLVENCY), preferential creditors are paid first (for example, the INLAND REVENUE for tax due), then ordinary creditors pro rata. If there is a surplus after payment of all creditors, this is distributed pro rata amongst the shareholders of the company. See also LIMITED LIABILITY, SHAREHOLDERS.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005

Liquidation

The process of converting securities or other property into cash.

References in periodicals archive ?

McTavish explains: "There has been a noticeable increase in the number of members' voluntary liquidations because business owners with no family willing to take the business on are finding there is no market for selling it on as a going concern due to the lack of funding for potential buyers.

GROWING RELUCTANCE TO TURN THE SCREW

Recent highlights include advising Deloitte in relation to a number of members' voluntary liquidations, and acting for the administrators of MT2000 (Extrusions) Ltd in the sale of its business.

Strength in depth on insolvency

Several were wound up in members' voluntary liquidations, so that shareholders paid capital gains tax, then 30 per cent, on the proceeds at a time when the tax on dividends could be as high as 98 per cent.

Widely-admired expert on tax and flotations

Prior to the transfer, Eclipse 2, Eclipse 3 and Eclipse 4 would be placed under members' voluntary liquidations following a scheme of reconstruction, they said.