Australian camper manufacturer AOR owes about $9 million — ABC News Australia

Australian off-road camper manufacturer Australian Off Road (AOR), which operated on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, owes creditors about A$9 million after entering external administration on September 15. Administrators from DVT McLeods disclosed details of the company’s financial position at the first creditors’ meeting, ABC News Australia reports.

According to the administrators, nearly 50 customers risk losing a combined A$2.25 million in progress payments for unfinished or not yet manufactured campers. The company owed about 70 employees A$2.16 million in unpaid wages, superannuation contributions and unused leave entitlements.

The Australian Taxation Office has claims of at least A$2.72 million, while suppliers are owed A$1.6 million. At the same time, AOR’s assets are estimated at about A$755,000. Administrators found that 47 customers had paid deposits of up to A$120,000, but only 13 camper chassis could be physically located.

Asset sale and transaction review

Administrator Nick Keramos said a buyer for the business was being sought to recover funds for creditors. If the company and its assets cannot be sold as a single package, production machinery, equipment and inventory are planned to be auctioned separately.

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Keramos also criticised director Barry Russell Evans’s engagement with the administrators, saying the responses received were insufficient for the investigation. According to him, the accounting books and records do not contain enough information to establish who owns the 13 chassis found. Evans was contacted for comment.

Appeal to ASIC

The administrators approached the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, ASIC, over the transfer of AOR trading names to related company AOR Holding Co Pty Ltd several days before the business collapsed. Keramos said he had asked the regulator to freeze the transfer of these names, while the transaction itself is under review.

Separately, the administrators are determining whether completed campers could have been transferred to people linked to the company shortly before its collapse. They are also examining assets at another business in Kunda Park operated by another Evans company, as well as the contents of two containers at the Port of Brisbane that may have come from AOR’s factory in China.