SHAREHOLDERS IN car rental group Murray’s are set to invest a substantial sum in the business as part of a rescue plan for the company.

The High Court placed Dublin-based Murray’s in examinership in early July after the recession and the loss of a franchise combined to hit the company’s fortunes.

Examiner Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton will call a creditors’ meeting on Tuesday to put a rescue plan to them.

Under its terms, the Murray family, which owns the business, will put up new investment, understood to be a seven-figure sum. The other proposals include rescheduling the group’s existing debts.

Creditors will have to vote in favour of the plan, known as a scheme of arrangement, before it can go ahead.

Once the scheme gets the support of just one class of creditors, it can go to the High Court for final approval.

At that stage, if other creditors can show the court that they would fare better in a liquidation or receivership, than under the scheme of arrangement, then it will not get approval.

The 100-day period of court protection from its creditors, granted to Murray’s when it was placed in examinership, ends on Wednesday.

However, the court can extend this once the scheme of arrangement is approved.

The companies involved are Murray’s Rent-a-Car, Murray Leasing and Murray Chauffeur Drive. Murray’s Rent-a-Car owed €12.6 million when the company sought court protection, but had considerable assets, leaving it with a shortfall of €1.5 million.

At the same time, other group companies owed those in examinership money. Directors, Harold Thomas Murray and Harold John Murray, believed these debts could be collected.

A statement of the group’s affairs prepared at the time it was placed in examinership pointed out that the companies involved were trading profitably at that time.

Murray’s is headquartered in Dublin and has six branches in the Republic.

It employs 102 people.

Murray’s now operates the German Sixt car rental franchise in Ireland.