Exposure to failed main customer helps send heavy lift firm into receivership
By Rob McKay | August 10, 2011
Victorian heavy lift specialist Machinery Movers and its allied firm, Monster Move, have hit the wall and a buyer is being sought.
Based in Dandenong, Machinery Movers continues to work on the Wonthaggi desalination plant in its home state and BHP Billiton’s Worsley Multi-Fuel Cogeneration Project in Western Australia.
Both firms are under the control of receivers and managers Ferrier Hodgson, which is seeking expressions of interest by 5pm on August 19.
An unfortunate convergence of heavy reliance on a failed customer, equipment damage, pressure from the Australian Taxation office, which had started a wind-up action, and a move by its bank, believed to be National Australia Bank, to protect its interests, had led to the receivership.
The company runs a small fleet of mainly Mack trucks and has a variety of highly-specialised trailing and lifting equipment.
Ferrier Hodgson Partner Brendan Richards says the failure of Griffin Coal early last year saw the firm lose 70 percent of its business and money owed to it.
It also meant the company was unable to recover costs for damage to a $2 million trailer.
“As a consequence of the failure of its main customer, it was too specialised,” Richards says.
“But when it was being fully utilised and assuming it was paid for the work, it would have been high-margin work.
“These were the guys prepared to take the punt to buy the assets, no one else in Australia’s got it, and you’ve got to wonder if no one else in Australia’s got it for that exact reason.”
Ferrier Hodgson is continuing to trade the business as usual with a view to selling it as a going concern, rather than going through a liquidation process.