FTI takes interim control of $182m Ironbark group

The Supreme Court of New South Wales has appointed Kathryn Evans and Vaughan Strawbridge of FTI Consulting as provisional liquidators of Ironbark Holdings Australia Pty Ltd and 11 related companies after ASIC raised concerns about deficient financial records, repeated regulatory non-compliance and the group’s ability to meet obligations to investors. Justice Nixon also appointed them receivers and managers of the Deckchair Trust, whose trustee is Great Northern Morayfield Pty Ltd.

ASIC commenced the proceeding in March seeking to wind up the 12 companies on the just and equitable ground. The companies are ultimately owned by Christopher Edwards, who is sole director of 11 of them and co-director of the remaining company with his wife. ASIC’s analysis of MYOB records indicated the group had raised approximately $182 million from investors as of January 31, 2026, with several entities operating primarily to raise investor funds and advance them to property development companies.

Justice Nixon found ASIC had a reasonable prospect of obtaining final winding-up orders, citing the companies’ repeated failure over almost two years to comply with statutory directions requiring financial and audit reports, inconsistencies in financial information and significant deficiencies in their record-keeping. The Court also referred to regulatory findings concerning Edwards, including a ten-year ASIC financial services ban, his disqualification as a self-managed superannuation fund auditor and adverse decisions by the Law Society of NSW and Tax Practitioners Board, some of which are subject to review or appeal.

The judgment also focused on the way the group was meeting investor obligations. Edwards acknowledged that the development companies did not generate recurring annual income and that interest and other obligations had been met through property sales, director loans and third-party borrowings. Justice Nixon accepted ASIC’s submission that the evidence supported an inference that payments had largely been funded through new investor money or additional borrowing rather than income generated by the businesses, raising concerns about the sustainability of the model.

The Court examined Ironbark Holdings’ Gunnedah project in particular. ASIC’s records showed Ironbark owed more than $52.9 million to investors, while its unaudited accounts valued the Gunnedah site at approximately $84 million. ASIC’s independent valuer assessed the property at only $6 million, which would turn Ironbark’s reported $64.8 million net asset position into a deficiency of approximately $13.2 million, assuming the remainder of its balance sheet was accurate. The Court also heard unchallenged expert evidence questioning whether the proposed solar farm development was financially viable or likely to be completed.

The companies opposed the appointment and offered undertakings restricting asset disposals, further borrowing, new investments and intercompany transfers, while allowing independent accountants access to their records. Justice Nixon found those protections insufficient, concluding that provisional liquidators would be better placed to secure the companies’ books and assets, investigate their financial position and prevent further funds from being raised from investors.

The provisional liquidators must report to the Court and ASIC within ten weeks on the companies’ assets and liabilities, solvency, creditor claims, potential returns, suspected breaches and antecedent transactions, and recommend whether the companies should be returned to their directors, wound up or placed on another course. The final winding-up application remains to be determined.