To say 2021 was a mixed basket for us all would be a colossal understatement. With insolvency protections and business lifelines like Jobkeeper being pulled back earlier in the year, 2021 was the year many predicted as the start of mass winding ups post covid-19. While this hasn’t eventuated, there has still been fair share of companies who have managed to land in hot water with their creditors, investors, and the public. So, without further ado, here are our Top 8 Collapses of 2021!
Greensill Capital
Lex Greensill’s supply chain finance group became insolvent almost overnight when its major backer, Credit Suisse, froze $10 billion worth of funding over issues with insurance policies covering customer defaults. While briefly given leave to continue trade, the company entered administration soon after on March 8. The business was once estimated be valued at $30 billion, however it left debts of $49 billion at the time of its collapse.
Kikki.K
Having experienced the Australian Restructuring Regime in 2020, the stationary store has been struck out a second time in August 2021, barely a year after it was sold in a bid to save the struggling retailer. The business was brought back out of administration in October albeit with a reduced physical retail presence.
L’Occitane
Moving overseas, the French beauty giant’s American Division filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy early in 2021 after mounting rental pressures from its luxury high traffic retail locations failed to draw shoppers amidst the pandemic. The company plans to restructure its model to accommodate fewer physical locations.
Forum Finance
One might say Bill Papas is to thank for the collapse of his own company in 2021. After allegedly forging signatures from various companies on more than $400 million worth of loan agreements, Westpac and other banking giants took action against Papas. He has since flown to Greece while liquidators are left recoup what they can from his $60 million property portfolio.
Poked
A relatively new company and liquidation, the salad bowl restaurant chain with 8 stores attempted to offer consumers a healthy alternative to fast food. Unfortunately, it shut its doors coming into summer, attributing its failure to lockdowns and the lack of foot traffic at its store locations.
Crumpler
Another Australian grown company to have succumbed to lockdown cash flow pressures, bag retailer Crumpler entered into administration in September of last year. Given the inability for most Australians to travel freely in 2021, sales had been significantly impacted. The business was sold to the founder and his designer daughter who are looking to relaunch Crumpler.
Basslink
The company that owns and operates the subsea cable connecting the mainland and Tasmania has had action taken against it by the Tasmanian government for $70 million for historic outages. With arbitration ruling against the company, they appointed administrators in late 2021.
Pindan
WA construction company Pindan went into liquidation in May of last year, with some reported 1400 creditors owed $80 million, the majority of which are subcontractors and trade suppliers. With some reports that construction may be most at risk coming into 2022, with many subcontractors out of pocket due to poorly negotiated contracts, head contractor insolvencies and increases in raw material costs.
Disclaimer
This information and the contents of this publication, current as at the date of publication, is general in nature to offer assistance to RRI Advisory’s clients, prospective clients and stakeholders, and is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal or financial advice. If you are concerned about any topic covered, we recommend that you seek your own specific legal and financial advice before taking any action.