The south London based civils contractor went into administration last month when its assets were acquired in a pre-pack deal by Byrne Group.

A report lodged at Companies House by administrators RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP reveals that unsecured creditors to O’Keefe are owed £13.1m and are likely to receive less than 2p in the pound for their debts.

It also confirms that Byrne Group paid £7.9m for the business which is now trading as two new companies O’Keefe Construction (Byrne Group) Limited and O’Keefe Demolition (Byrne Group) Limited.

The report adds: “It is anticipated payments totalling over £1.5m will need to be made to suppliers to retain ongoing trade which will be met by O’Keefe Construction (Byrne Group) Limited.”

O’Keefe has been struggling financially and struck a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors last August.

It made the first of four quarterly payments to creditors in March but a worsening cash flow meant it was unable to make the second June payment sparking the administration process.

Results for O’Keefe contained in the report show a £12.7m loss for the 18 months to November 2021 from a turnover of £69m.

One supplier said: “We are a creditor who have supported O’Keefe over the last year but now it looks like we won’t get paid following the takeover.”