Blackwater Homes, a Cork-based firm which has constructed several housing developments in the south of Ireland, and is currently promoting a 354-flat complex in the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria, including a spa and a hotel, has filed for bankruptcy protection, the Sunday Business Post has reported.

The outfit, which is depleted of financial assets, is likely to go into administration, according to the report.

It has requested the Irish high court to provide bankruptcy protection from its creditor. Meanwhile, the firm will hire an auditor to oversee the business, "as it seeks to restructure its debts and source fresh investment", the report says.

Blackwater Homes was initially established in 1995 to provide "quality individual houses in the Cork and Waterford" and has since expanded, to include real estate developments in Bulgaria as well.

The firm’s directors, Kevin Curtin and Catherine Curtin, have said that the company has suffered its poor fortunes in light of the global economic downturn and the subsequent slump of real estate value "and is no longer able to pay its debts".

An independent assessment of the company’s resources, however, has indicated that the "the firm has a reasonable chance of survival if it can negotiate deals with its lenders and creditors".

"Documents filed with the court state that the company is proposing to appoint Barry Donohoe, a partner with KPMG in Cork, as the official examiner," the Sunday Business Post has said.

If appointed, the company will be sheltered from its creditors for a period of just over three months, in which time Donohoe will be entrusted with salvaging the business.