FTI receivers take control of Derwent Industries and AVFI

Australian manufacturing group Derwent Industries Pty Ltd and related valve and flow-control business AVFI Pty Ltd have entered voluntary administration, with Robert Smith and Matthew Hutton of McGrathNicol appointed administrators on 9 September 2026. The appointments are running alongside a receivership, with Kate Warwick, Ross Blakeley and Paul Harlond of FTI Consulting appointed receivers and managers of both companies.

Derwent Industries, headquartered in Dandenong South, Victoria, describes itself as a 100% Australian-owned manufacturing group supplying engineered products and solutions to the industrial, water infrastructure, mining, automotive and defence sectors.

The group operates manufacturing and other facilities in Bendigo, Wodonga and Dandenong, as well as facilities in New Zealand. Its businesses and brands include Keech Castings, Kawandah Clamps, Derwent Foundry, Derwent Flow Control, Derwent Clamps, Derwent Couplings and Derwent Pipelines.

According to Derwent, the business has more than 90 years of manufacturing history and supplies customers across the defence, rail, water flow-control and mining sectors, with an emphasis on Australian manufacturing and in-house engineering.

AVFI, which operates under names including Australian Valve & Filter Industries, AVFI Imports and AVFI Valve Solutions, joined the Derwent group in 2023 but remains a separate legal entity.

The appointments follow several years of expansion by Derwent. In February 2023, the Australian Business Growth Fund announced a $15 million investment in the company to support automation, manufacturing capacity and regional employment. Derwent subsequently added rubber manufacturer Mackay Australia Pty Ltd and AVFI to its broader manufacturing group.

The public-facing business continued to show signs of investment and expansion into 2026. Derwent began a new seven-year lease over its Wodonga fabrication facility in January, while Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority was assessing a proposal earlier this year to increase production at the company’s Derwent Park foundry from 1,000 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes annually.

The cause of the companies’ financial difficulties has not yet been disclosed. Mackay is not named in the administration or receivership appointments.