Paperlinx has extended its now almost two-week ASX trading halt as its scrambles to sell its struggling European business and work through the collapse of its British arm.

The embattled paper merchant will now keep shares frozen at 1.7c until April 16, the day after the deadline for the sale of its beleaguered Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg (Benelux) business set by key financier ING under the threat of withdrawing funding – as it did in the UK.

Paperlinx shares were originally slated to resume trading today after the first halt was declared on March 26 after it breached loan conditions with ING, the financier of its British and Benelux operations.

Paperlinx says it is continuing discussions with the bank to resolve the situation and is trying to find a buyer before the deadline.

[Related: The ups and downs of Paperlinx]

Chief executive Andy Preece last week told ProPrint that formal talks with multiple potential buyers are ongoing, but there was not yet binding proposal on the table.

“The European businesses are interconnected to varying degrees both financially and by customers and supply chains so there are many stakeholders whose actions can influence the course of events,” he said.

“It is a fluid situation and we need to look at any and all offers we are given and assess the market reaction to see what out next moves are.”

Paperlinx would not get any cash from the sale of any of its businesses, as it would all stay with the sold-off business under the buyer.

The company says it is also still assessing the impact of the Paperlinx UK administration on other European operations ‘given the interconnectedness of financing arrangements and the supply chain in the region’.

All but five of Paperlinx’s 19 UK sites were immediately closed by administrators last Thursday morning, and 693 of the business' 1200 staff were made redundant.

[Related: More credit and debt news]

Meanwhile, one former employee has launched a crowd-funding campaign to buy back all or part of Paperlinx UK and save as many jobs as possible.

The campaign has so far raised £66,122 from 10 donors. It has until April 22 to reach a £500,000 target that was revised down from £5m.

The anonymous ex-employee told ProPrint’s UK sister publication PrintWeek: “I couldn't just see the business disappear overnight and I have friends whose pitches have gone viral, so I thought let's give it a go to try to save the business.

“After some feedback I decided to lower the amount which would enable people not to be put off by such a large target and to enable overfunding. I am hoping to be able to enlist a suitably experienced management team if it's successful.”

With Paperlinx’s UK debts likely in the tens of millions, it will probably take a lot more than £500,000 to save the business in any significant form.

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