Last week, in response to an Australian Securities Exchange query, Boart denied its review had been unsuccessful and it was heading for administration.

The Wall Street Journal reported overnight that in addition to Goldman Sachs, which is completing the review, Boart had appointed Australian restructuring group Ashurst and insolvency practitioners KordaMentha to save the company from bankruptcy.

After a brief trading halt, Boart reiterated that it was considering all options in its review.

“The breadth of the options evaluated by the company has required the participation of restructuring advisors since the initiation of the review in late February and those advisors, along with Goldman Sachs and other advisors, continue to actively assist the company with the range of options that remain under consideration with a number of third parties,” Boart said this afternoon.

“The company will disclose material developments related to the strategic review at the appropriate time.”

Last month, Moody’s Investors Services downgraded the company’s corporate family rating to Caa1 and warned of further downgrades if liquidity continued to deteriorate, if the company was unable to achieve a cashflow break-even position and/or if debt to earnings was sustained at or above current levels.

Utah-based, Australia-listed Boart reported a 47% drop in revenue, negative earnings and low rig utilisation rates for the March quarter and is yet to release June results.

The company’s shares slumped 27% to a record low of A9.8c, a massive 99% slump from its October 2007 all-time high of $21.86.