Stephen has a proven track record in achieving outcomes through complex restructuring across a wide range of industries, with the ultimate goals being to restore stability, protect reputations, and preserve and enhance value.
A Registered Liquidator with over 16 years of restructuring and insolvency experience in Australia and overseas, working in a major accounting firm, a Big Four Australian bank and within the public sector.
Voluntary Administration of one of Australia’s first licensed medicinal cannabis cultivators.
The Company needed to be recapitalised and faced high expenditure to develop and take to market its product. The Company relied heavily on equity funding to finance capital expenditure, product research, testing and development, and to produce its two product lines, high-THC and CBD oil. Once equity funding was exhausted, assets were leveraged to secure debt funding. Eventually, shareholders withdrew their financial support, which exacerbated the Company’s financial strain and made it challenging to meet operational expenses.
Over 10 months, several strategies were deployed to secure a successful sale of shares and recapitalisation of the Company, including preserving non-transferable licenses, dealing with the complexity of a lease-hold operation, and managing key regulatory stakeholders.
Recapitalisation and sale of shares achieved through a Deed of Company Arrangement restructure.
We were appointed Voluntary Administrators of an established mid-tier plumbing and drainage business.
Operations were maintained over two months while a business sale was canvassed in conjunction with working with the director on a Deed of Company Arrangement Proposal. The restructure provided for a full payment of superannuation employee entitlements and a dividend to the Company's unsecured creditors.
The company was successfully restructured through a Deed of Company Arrangement, which preserved the ongoing operations of the Company’s business and ensured that pre-appointment works/orders were completed.
Appointed Voluntary Administrator of a mid-sized vegetation management contractor.
Unprofitable contracts and a lack of internal control and oversight ultimately made the business unprofitable for several years, with trading losses eventually becoming unsustainable.
Following the appointment, the business was downsized and licensed out to preserve the ongoing operations while a buyer could be sourced in conjunction with providing time for the directors to put together a restructuring proposal.
The business was successfully restructured through a Deed of Company Arrangement, which preserved the business's ongoing operations, preserved employment and provided for a total payment of outstanding superannuation and preservation of entitlements.