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Business News Digital
Guvera creditors still awaiting debt restructuring plan
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 July 2016
Creditors of the two Guvera subsidiaries put into administration last month are hoping that they will find out what the streaming music firm is proposing regarding the two companies’ debts later this week, after an expected debt restructuring proposal failed to materialise at a creditors’ meeting in Sydney last week.
As previously reported, the digital firm put its Guvera Australia and Guv Services units into administration after the parent company’s plan to IPO was blocked by the Australian Securities Exchange. Bosses at the company have since been on a PR offensive to convince investors and the music industry that everything is fine.
But the two companies in administration have about 150 creditors – many former staff – who, according to The Courier-Mail, claim they are collectively owed almost AUS$ 15 million. Some of the former employees seeking redundancy payouts and compulsory pension contributions have reportedly expressed concerns about any staggered payment plans, requesting lump-sum payments for what is owed.
With regards the expected proposal from the parent company, administrator Neil Cussen of Deloitte said last week: “We remain in discussions with [Guvera] management on this and hope to receive something towards the end of next week”.
Elsewhere, the Australian Financial Review has reported that the main reason Guvera bought the UK-based Blinkbox streaming service last year was because the company was, at that point, plotting an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, which made buying a pre-existing British business attractive.
This is according to the man who oversaw Guvera’s UK adventure, Michael de Vere, who is now suing the company. The UK plan collapsed, of course, when Blinkbox fell into administration, resulting in legal action from the employees of what had previously been a Tesco subsidiary.