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The administrator for collapsed major Sydney developer Bathla has declared its financial situation “very dire” and warned the company would start to be wound up late Tuesday afternoon if it does not get the funding it needs in the coming hours.
Teneo’s Stephen Longley, the administrator for Bathla Group, told the Today program administrators were running out of hope for a holistic solution to finish the 45 projects under construction.
“We’ve had intensive discussions with lenders, but I don’t think we’re going to get enough funding in place to be able to finish those 45 projects. We need to put together a minimum viable structure to deliver the projects,” he said.
Bathla Group entered voluntary administration last Tuesday, owing debts of more than $3.3 billion. Teneo on Monday morning set a Thursday deadline to find $20 million to repay eight weeks of staff wages and fund near-complete projects. But after a meeting with lenders on Monday night, Teneo brought the deadline forward to Tuesday afternoon.
The company “put out a broadcast” late on Monday to construction lenders and said they would need commitments within 24 hours, Longley said.
“What we need the funding for is the head office cost. There’s 350 staff at head office, most of which are mission-critical to deliver those projects, and all the other costs associated with supporting the project.”
“We’ll start planning at the end of the day for the wind down of the business, and we’ll be meeting with staff,” he said. “Payroll is due on Thursday. As administrators, we’re personally liable for paying that payroll, even if a company doesn’t have any money, which it doesn’t.
“So, we need to work out how do we pay those employees, but we’ll be paying them and then saying there’s no more money, and they have to go home and there’ll be wholesale redundancies.”
Some private capital lenders, who have emerged as a key element in Bathla’s collapse, have taken control of individual worksites and will be responsible for delivering certain projects. For instance, private equity group PAG has been funding Bathla’s major apartment complex in Pemulwuy, 10 kilometres west of Parramatta. Dozens of subcontractors were told in an onsite meeting on Tuesday morning they would be paid by PAG to finish the project.
One foreman for the site, who identified himself as Charbel, told reporters outside the meeting he was assured by the administrators that the Pemulwuy apartment block would be completed. But he was less hopeful about the other Bathla sites he was working on.
“They have no idea what is going on there,” he said. “[We’re] still waiting for the administrator. They say they have zero money on the accounts.
“I have four kids, I have staff to pay … I have contractors to pay, and we don’t know. That’s our problem in the industry. No one can guarantee our money. If we do any work, for any business, we’re always losing.”
Ellie Busby is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
Anthony Segaert is the Parramatta bureau chief at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously an urban affairs reporter.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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