Building providers BHT Group - which operates Tubs and Tiles, Heat Merchants and Brooks - has gone into examinership with debts of €31.8m. €21.8m of the group's debts are to unsecured trade creditors.
The High Court approved the appointment of Kieran Wallace of KPMG as examiner this morning. The company employs 445 people in around 58 branches nationwide.
In a statement, the company's board said the move was due to a difficult trading environment in the construction and home improvement sectors during 2011 and at the start of 2012.
The businesses will continue to trade normally during the three-month period of the examinership.
The company was originally owned by the Wolseley Group but was sold to a group of private investors last year. It provides building, plumbing, tiling and flooring goods.
