British holiday camp firm Pontin's has attracted ten offer approaches since going into administration, accountants KPMG said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. KPMG, who were appointed administrators in November, said the majority of the offers had come from parties who were keen to continue operating the business as a going concern. In its first report to creditors on the progress of the administration, KPMG said Pontin's secured creditor debt stood at about 44 million pounds ($68.5 million) with unsecured creditor debt amounting to 3.6 million pounds.

A survey from property website Daft.ie has found that asking prices for homes fell by 14% last year, with prices falling by 5% in the final three months of the year, RTE News reported. Daft.ie says prices have now fallen by 40% from their peak, with the average price now just below €220,000. During 2010, asking prices in Dublin fell 14% on average, compared to a fall of 15% outside major cities. Prices in Galway were 13% lower than a year before, after prices fell sharply in the final quarter of the year.

Kathleen Dwyer, the court-appointed trustee for David Drumm’s estate, trawled through his Irish and US bank accounts yesterday, at the former Anglo chief executive’s third bankruptcy hearing in Boston, the Irish Times reported. Yesterday’s hearing highlighted the awkward duty of Ms Dwyer to maximise the amount of Mr Drumm’s estate so it can be distributed to his creditors, while at the same time suing his main creditor, Anglo.

The number of U.K. companies going into administration declined 35% in 2010 compared with the previous year, but continued economic weakness means many more are still at risk, professional services firm Deloitte LLP said Wednesday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. A total of 2,086 U.K. firms went into administration last year, down from 3,188 in 2009, with the property and construction sectors the worst hit, accounting for one in five of total administrations.

Celtic Bookmakers has gone into receivership, according to a statement by the company’s owner Ivan Yates, Business & Leadership reported. Yates, a broadcaster on radio station Newstalk and former Fine Gael minister, owns the independent chain of betting shops with his wife Deirdre. AIB appointed Neil Hughes of Hughes Blake Accountants to Celtic Bookmakers on Tuesday. The statement from the Yates’ said that job losses were inevitable but they would endeavour to keep as many stores open as possible by selling them as going concerns.

The European Union has successfully sold €5 billion in bonds which will be used to fund its contribution to Ireland's bailout, The Irish Times reported. The bond sale, which took place this morning, was three times over-subscribed and was sold out within an hour, the EU said. According to Bloomberg, the five-year notes were priced to yield 12 basis points more than the benchamrk swap rate, or about 2.5 per cent. That compares with 1.77 per cent on similar-maturity German government debt and 2.08 per cent on French bonds according to Bloomberg data.

Concern about the rising number of pensioners becoming bankrupt has been raised by campaigners following an analysis of debt figures, the BBC reported. Bankruptcy among all age groups has risen in the past 10 years, with the highest prevalence among 35 to 44-year-olds, the UK Insolvency Service said. But the service and charities have pointed to pensioners as being the fastest growing group of bankrupts. The elderly face debts at a time when their income drops, charities warn.

German lingerie group Schiesser has emerged from insolvency proceedings as it prepares to float on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the second quarter of 2011, according to a company statement issued on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The family-founded company filed for insolvency almost two years ago and first voiced plans to float in 2010. Schiesser said insolvency administrator Volker Grub would join the supervisory board and hand over the running of the company to the new executive board, which includes Rudolf Buendgen, Karl-Achim Klein and Johannes Molzberger.

China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China will sign $7.3 billion worth of deals with Spain on Wednesday, according to a Spanish official, after reiterating Beijing's pledge to back the crisis-ridden European nation's austerity measures and offer of potential support for Spain's future fundraising, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr.

Austrian technology and engineering group A-TEC struck a deal with creditors on Wednesday to repay 47 percent of its debts and agreed to find an outside investor by June 30 as a way to avoid bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The insolvent industrial conglomerate with more than 11,000 employees was under pressure to find a solution with creditors by a Jan. 20 deadline. Georg Kantner of the Austrian creditor's association KSV said the deal had bought time to find an investor and provided a realistic chance for a turnaround.