Marine Produce Australia Group - Case Update

Rob Kirman and Rob Brauer of McGrathNicol have given an update on their administration of certain companies collectively known as the Marine Produce Australia Group. The group is Australia’s only operational in-sea and ocean grown Barramundi farm, located in far north Western Australia. The group has been loss making since inception, with an average net loss of circa $7.3 million in its last three years, which have been funded by Barramundi Group Limited (BGL), its Singaporean parent company. In September 2022, BGL advised the group that it was no longer willing to fund the losses. Operations were maintained on a limited budget while the group sought an equity investment and/or a capital transaction to secure its future. These efforts were unsuccessful and administrators were appointed on 24 May, 2023. The administrators operated the business for approximately 3 weeks with funding from secured creditor NAB while it ran a sale / recapitalisation process. Tassal Tasmanian Salmon submitted a standout offer and provided an additional $1.3 million in funding to cover losses while a final binding offer was formulated. On 23 July, Tassal submitted its offer, which sees a DOCA cash contribution of approximately $7.8 million. The offer is sufficient to provide, among other things, continued employment for the majority of employees, substantial repayment of secured debt and a distribution to unsecured creditors that exceeds a liquidation scenario. Accordingly, the administrators are recommending that creditors accept the DOCA put forward. Full report.