Administrator McGrathNicol has taken over control of the business and assets of the ABA Group after the company received only enough funding to meet 15 to 20 per cent of its costs for the next year.

ABA is a Managed Investment Scheme (MIS) and company chief executive officer Andrew Ferguson believes the collapse of other MIS companies contributed to the significant fall in the funds the company was able to attract.

The ABA Group is the nation's largest offshore abalone operation and the largest employer in Elliston.

"Clearly the appointment of administrators and the local concentration of employment will have a significant impact on the town," McGrathNicol's Sam Davies said.

McGrathNicol will work with the growers, employees, suppliers, the Elliston community, Federal and State regulators, the Environmental Protection Authority, shareholders and management to confirm the financial position of the ABA Group.

According to information published on the ABA website yesterday funds received by ABA to date will be returned to investors.

Yesterday it was unconfirmed how many of the company's 47 employees might lose their jobs but it was understood some job losses would be highly likely.

It was also understood some employees would still be required to look after the abalone pens but for an undetermined amount of time.

It was also possible the sales team would be made redundant as there was no longer a product to actively sell.

A McGrathNicol spokesperson said the value of the company now lay in its tangible assets, primarily the abalone.

The Port Lincoln Times received phone calls from two employees of the company yesterday afternoon who said they had been made redundant but it was understood no redudancies had been made by the administrators yet.

Shortly an accredited meeting will be held to determine what solutions the administrators can present. There are four investment projects in the water, which includes abalone from 2005 to 2008, which the administrators will need to work out what to do with.