Gandalf Technologies Inc, the Nepean, Ontario-based networking company which ran out of cash last week (CI No 3,212) has been forced by its bankers to put its wholly-owned UK subsidiary, Gandalf Digital Communications Ltd up for sale in an effort to keep the parent company afloat. Gandalf filed for protection from its creditors on July 25 and has until October 31 to sort out its affairs, after which time the company can no longer hide and will be forced into bankruptcy. In an attempt to raise cash, Price Waterhouse have been appointed as administrative receivers with the task of selling off the UK interests, hopefully as a going concern. The UK subsidiary is Gandalf’s largest overseas operation by far and is primarily a sales and services operation although some ISDN research and development work is carried out there. Following the loss of 180 jobs last week at Gandalf’s Canadian and US operations the company headcount stands at 340, including 190 outside of Canada, of which more than 100 are part of the UK operation. Subsidiaries in the US, France and the Netherlands have escaped any restructuring or job cuts over the past few months but Gandalf warns that the latest move in the UK may be repeated elsewhere as all its international operations are currently under review.
