The Federal Court’s recent decision in Stone (Liquidator), in the matter of RIC Admin Pty Ltd (in liq) v Mandalinic (No 2) [2024] FCA 164 demonstrates the analysis the courts will undertake in determining a director’s personal liability for insolvent trading, even when the director does not appear for the hearing. The case reiterates how…
The news: Budget airline Bonza Aviation has entered liquidation after the company’s creditors held a second meeting on the future of the company on Tuesday. The context: In April, Bonza entered into voluntary administration after abruptly cancelling flights across Australia, stranding hundreds of domestic passengers, as it considered “the ongoing viability of the business”. Bonza’s…
Transport Workers’ Union Bonza creditors have today voted to liquidate the company, providing workers access to the government’s Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme. However, the TWU warns regional Australia won’t reconnect with the rest of the country without a Safe and Secure Skies Commission. Approximately 500 Bonza workers were terminated on 11 June but the government’s…
Australian airline Bonza will be placed into liquidation just months after going into involuntary administration. On Tuesday, administrator Hall Chadwick announced the news following a second meeting of creditors, where it was revealed that they had not received any offers for the sale of Bonza. The Administrators ran an extensive sales campaign involving numerous investors,…
Over the past two years, voluntary administration has become an all-too-common phrase in the beer world, a sign of the challenges faced by the brewing industry at a time when the wider economy is experiencing an ongoing downturn. While the number of VAs represents only a small percentage of the entire brewing industry, the attention…
Darlinghurst Theatre Company has announced via social media and its website that its directors have resolved to place the company into voluntary administration as of 17 June 2024. The company was formed in 1993 by Glenn Terry. Housed in The Eternity Playhouse since 2013, the Darlo has been a mainstay of Australian theatre for three…
Major private debt collector Panthera Finance has appointed new directors and put parts of the company into administration as it seeks to sell off its scandal-plagued business. Last month, Guardian Australia revealed Panthera, one of the countrys biggest private debt collection firms, had circumvented a blacklisting designed to stop it from operating in Victoria and…
The holding company of a superannuation fund created seven years ago to service gig economy and self-employed workers has entered voluntary liquidation. The GigSuper Group collapsed just over two years ago, reportedly owing creditors $2.7 million. Both the holding company, GigSuper Holdings Pty Ltd, and the subsidiary company, GigSuper Pty Ltd, entered voluntary administration in…
The number of companies entering external administration has hit a ten-year record high last month, illustrating the mounting pressures on businesses. John Park, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, outlines why and how businesses of all sorts and sizes should be taking sensible precautions. For the nine-month period from 1 July 2023 to 31 March 2024,…
There has been an increase in company insolvencies in Australia. Startups and early-stage technology companies have not been shielded from this, with recent high-profile collapses including Tritium and Milkrun. In this article we discuss insolvent trading risks, the state of the startup market, unique risks to startups and the protections offered by the “safe harbour”…