of their companies in a shock move yesterday.

A Supreme Court hearing into the winding up of Televest and its related companies ended abruptly after just half an hour.

The accountants called in to take charge of the companies say they now hope for an "orderly distribution of assets''.

The hearing was expected to last until the end of the week, but it had only reached the third day when Mr. Julian Hall made the surprise announcement.

Mr. Hall, lawyer for the directors, called the hearing to a close after "careful consideration with his clients''.

He said: "After very careful consideration, my instructions are to consent to a winding up order for Televest and Telecheck.'' Earlier in the week it had been claimed that Televest and Telecheck, both active companies, had become victims of proceedings concerning dormant companies, including TBL and CTRAK.

Televest had been offering returns of seven to nine percent to investors who bought preference shares which the company said could be redeemed with 14 days notice.

It has been claimed that about 500 Televest investors are owed a total of more than $8 million. A group together representing $2 million worth of preference shares have demanded their money back.

Mr. Saul Froomkin, representing the group, claims people were paid out with funds from new investors and that they were deceived as to the company's true financial state.

Telecheck Holdings Ltd. operated 10,000 Signature and Travel Card credit cards and ran a cheque approval service for shops. It is said to owe $4 million to creditors.

The three directors of Telecheck, Mr. Thomas Burns, Mr. Richard Burns and Mr.

Chris Donnachie, were said to have borrowed more than $2 million between them.

In December, Televest and four related companies were placed in provisional liquidation.

After conceding the wind-up, Mr. Hall said: "Concerning the loans to the directors, my clients' position is that terms were agreed for repayment and that there was always an intention to secure these loans from assets owned by the directors with a value well in excess of the $2 million aggregate borrowing.'' In a "without prejudice'' statement, Mr. Hall said his clients would endeavour, in good faith, to work out a proper security agreement with the liquidator.

He said matters had been dealt with by lawyers which would not have been completely understood by a layman. He agreed with presiding Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground's summing up of the situation as "a mess''.

Mr. Hall asked that the judge take care in the appointment of the same liquidator who had dealt with the case so far. He said he feared assets would be taken away from the shareholders.

"My clients have always been trying to protect those interests,'' he said.

Despite the concession of the winding up order, Mr. Hall said his clients had wanted more than just their day in court.

He added: "There is a sense of grievance felt by my clients about the way that matters were conducted in December.

"Their principal concern now is to move forward and not unduly tie up the court's time any further.'' Stating he believed the directors' decision to concede was sensible, Mr.

Justice Ground told Mr. Hall: "I appreciate the sense of grievance your clients felt, whether or not it is justified.'' The accountants in charge of Telecheck and Televest announced after the hearing that the court had confirmed their appointments.

Mr. Charles Kempe and Mr. Gil Tucker said they would continue as joint provisional liquidators, "pending the first meetings of contributories and creditors''.

The meetings would be held within a month, they said. "We hope to be able to present proposals for the orderly distribution of the assets, avoiding further costly litigation''.