In our e-newsletter of 21st April we published a press release from Peter Belding, Managing Director of Junair Australia Group, outlining his decision to restructure the Group as a direct result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this press release triggered several calls to the National Collision Repairer from both suppliers and customers of Junair, which in turn led us to “dig a bit deeper”. We found the following:
On Wednesday 22nd April, Belding signed a lodgement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to put Junair Spraybooths ANZ Pty Ltd into Voluntary Liquidation, which prima facie is consistent with Belding’s statement that “companies that are surplus to requirement have been liquidated.”
The lodgement to ASIC included a list of 80 unsecured creditors who are collectively owed in excess of $1.1million, and a summary of assets and liabilities with an estimated deficit of in excess of $1.4million.
Junair Spraybooths ANZ Pty Ltd was unsuccessful in a 2019 lawsuit where, following appeals, judgement was finally handed down earlier this month. Interestingly the other party to the lawsuit is listed as an unsecured creditor in the ASIC lodgement.
Belding also stated in his press release that “several new business entities have been registered” and that the restructure is “for our benefit and the benefit of our customers”. One may well ask if or when the unsecured creditors of Junair Spraybooths ANZ Pty Ltd will receive their money or if they too are “surplus to requirement”.
Belding had no comment when contacted, although he said he was willing to take questions in writing. This we may well do at a later date, but for now we will stick to presenting the facts.
Footnote: We have removed the original press release from our website as we no longer believe it presents the complete picture.