UPDATE: SEMA expected to be sold to MBO team today

A management buyout of SEMA is "99.9% likely to happen today", ProPrint has been told.

A source close to the MBO team said he was confident the new owners would be able to return the company to profit thanks to the "very strong support we've received from our customers".

He said some staff had left SEMA since it entered administration, and more would follow, but that "the majority" would remain.

All staff are expected to receive all their entitlements, he added.

"This is a very good company with some great technology and great clients and it needs a second chance."

The information follows today's report that SEMA was burning through $200,000 per day and operating from an overdraft in the lead-up to its administration.

Philip Carter of PPB Advisory told the first creditors meeting on 29 May that SEMA had "no funds" when he was appointed administrator on 17 May.

"Accordingly, an urgent assessment of the company's financial position was conducted which indicated that the operating costs… were estimated to be approximately $200,000 a day."

ProPrint has received a copy of the creditors list, which shows its debts could amount to up to $7.3 million.

However, the document is far from clear on exact debts, with substantial differences between some of the figures on SEMA's books and the amounts being claimed by unpaid creditors.

ProPrint has consulted a number of accounting experts, who also struggled to make sense of the creditors list.

PPB Advisory refused to comment.

Australia Post appears to be the largest creditor, with a debt in the range of $3.3 million to $3.8 million. Australia Post did not comment.

The next largest debt listed is $1.1 million owed to Fuji Xerox Australia. Just weeks before filing for administration, SEMA signed for a pair of high-volume inkjet web presses from French manufacturer Impika, which were supplied by Fuji Xerox.

It is thought only one was ever delivered and that it has remained at the company during the administration.

Other debts listed include Pitney Bowes ($162,000), Paper Australia ($112,000), Trenear Printing Service ($64,000 to $92,000), Schinner Business Forms ($32,000 to $74,000), Dalton Paper ($52,000 to $59,000), Lindsay Yates Group ($34,000 to $42,000), Spicers Paper ($29,000 to $36,000), BJ Ball ($24,000) and Candida Stationery ($23,000).

Carter told the meeting that it was "unlikely" unsecured creditors would get any money back "given the estimated quantum of debts owed to secured creditors and employees".

He said the administrators were aiming to sell Australia's third biggest transactional printer as a going concern, but were also considering breaking up the business as a fall-back option.

Some 30 potential buyers had made enquiries about SEMA, "however only a few of these parties had indicated an interest to potentially purchase the business on a going concern basis".

SEMA could also be liquidated at tomorrow's second creditors meeting, according to Carter.