Mahercorp Group is a Victorian homebuilder with 780 homes under construction and a further c1000 in the pipeline. Mahercorp has a turnover of c200m, c$50m of creditors and c270 employees.

Due to ongoing challenges, including significant supply chain issues and rising construction labour and material costs, Mahercorp determined it would become insolvent and appointed Voluntary Administrators to restructure the business and return it to profitability.

Through the voluntary administration, Cor Cordis paused construction works while they urgently assessed the business operations and explored all options to restructure or recapitalise the businesses.

Mahercorp was successfully restructured through a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA), with Cor Cordis working across multiple stakeholder groups, stabilising a business experiencing financial challenges while still trading the business.

Critical DOCA elements that delivered a successful outcome included:

• Pre-appointment communication, with a focus on stakeholder management across customers, suppliers, creditors, employees and regulatory bodies.
• Restructure funding and stabilisation.
• Customer contract variation.
• A key focus on post-DOCA sustainability.

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The core business of the group was funds and investment management, primarily in Australian real estate assets for high-net-worth foreign investors. Potential legal claims over $100m are being investigated and pursued as part of the liquidation, the complexity of the financials requiring detailed forensic analysis.

The claims relate to the misuse of corporate funds and assets and director and third-party loan accounts.

Extensive funds tracing undertaken by the forensics team revealed material company monies being paid (directly and indirectly) to parties, including large gaming institutions, and the alleged misappropriation of funds by the iProsperity Groups’ directors and/or company officers.

Undertaking necessary work to publicly examine several parties and commencement of litigation to pursue claims.

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Appointed Voluntary Administrator and later Liquidators of Acquire Learning, a vocational education student broking and Registered Training Organisation (RTO) group that, at its peak, generated revenues of approximately $130 million and held secured debt of around $40 million.

After successfully divesting the group’s assets, we conducted a full investigation, including a thorough forensic analysis of the group’s records and public examinations, identifying numerous breaches of directors’ duties along with claims related to directorial responsibilities.

Administrator / Deed Administrator of the Adaman Resources Group (c$180m of debt), resulting in a major gold mine DOCA restructure, securing the ongoing operation of the mine and preserving the value of the project, together with over 100 jobs.

Adaman Resources and six subsidiaries were placed into voluntary administration on 1 May 2021 after undergoing issues with ore quality, delays to capital investment projects and the effects of COVID-19.

Appointed Voluntary Administrators of a gold miner and its subsidiaries. We completed the $180m+ restructure of the group of companies and their respective mining assets, which includes the operational gold mine in Mount Magnet, WA, with a combined resource exceeding 760k ounces of gold. Continued to operate the mine during the voluntary administration and deed of company arrangement periods whilst undertaking a significant CAPEX program with the support of the major secured creditor. The group has over 100 employees and engages a significant number of contractors.

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Appointed Receivers and Managers during the COVID-19 period, providing unique stabilisation challenges, undertook material cost reduction, negotiated landlord rent relief and optimised the vast store network. Successfully restructured the business through a Deed of Company Arrangement and ensured 25 stores remained open in Australia, along with 256 full-time, part-time, and casual staff remaining employed.

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