Qintex Australia Asks to Be Placed in Receivership
Qintex Australia Ltd., the media and property empire built by entrepreneur Christopher Skase, went into receivership Tuesday in an effort to ward off complete liquidation.
The cash-starved company, which has been in a downward spiral since its proposed buyout of the MGM/UA movie studio collapsed in October, asked an Australian court to place it in receivership to prevent the group’s foreign and Australian banks from breaking up the company.
The court appointed David Crawford and John Allpass, chartered accountants with KPMG Peat Marwick Hungerfords, as receivers and managers of Qintex Australia and 28 associated companies, stripping Skase of an operational role in the company.
Qintex’s debt now totals $1.6 billion, and the company is expected to sell all of its resort and property assets--including a high-priced 232-acre oceanfront parcel in Orange County--while retaining its television network and perhaps its local television stations.
Peter Buchanan, a lawyer representing Qintex, told the Supreme Court in Victoria state that it is vital for Seven Network and other Qintex television stations to continue operating so they do not lose their broadcasting licenses.
Crawford and Allpass were given wide powers, including the right to hire and fire, sell Qintex assets and borrow money.
A spokesman for Qintex Entertainment Inc., a Beverly Hills firm that is 43% owned by Qintex Australia, said that firm now has “little contact” with Qintex Australia and still hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Qintex Entertainment has been in Chapter 11 since the parent company refused to advance needed cash after the aborted MGM/UA deal.
Bryan Madden, director of research at Prudential Bache in Melbourne, said the receivership is akin to a Chapter 11 filing in the United States. The banks wanted to avoid a liquidation, he said, because the sale of all Qintex assets would cover only a bit more than half the outstanding debts.
“What is certain now is that all the resorts will go, and all the land will go,” Madden said.
Qintex purchased the 232-acre parcel near Dana Point in southern Orange County last July and took an option on a 115-acre property nearby with the intention of building a luxury resort.
But the company earlier this month forfeited its right to the second parcel when it missed an installment payment. Local real estate experts said the price Qintex paid for the larger property--$132 million--was exorbitant.
Qintex owns two luxury resorts in Australia and the Princeville resort in Hawaii. Princeville announced Monday that the extensive renovation work under way at the site has been suspended.
