Other businesses of DFO pair are also under debt pressure Ben Butler September 11, 2010
THE business woes of millionaire DFO backers David Goldberger and David Wieland are not confined to the teetering discount shopping centre chain.
Corporate records show that other businesses associated with the pair are also under pressure.
The auditors of Verticon, a listed crane company turned developer in which the two men are the largest shareholder, has said there is ''significant uncertainty'' the loss-making company can continue as a going concern.
And a key company associated with the pair, New World Holdings, declared a small loss last year after revenue plunged by $140 million.
While Verticon's acting chief executive, Noel Henderson, told BusinessDay he was confident the company had a future, its chief executive recently quit and the company has burnt through $50 million raised when it floated in 2004.
The company has sold its crane business and is now a developer, with Mr Henderson saying it had several projects in the pipeline.
In a deal worth between $5 million and $9 million, Verticon is consulting on a four-level, 13-tenant homemaker centre on Warrigal Road, Chadstone, that is being developed by another company controlled by Mr Goldberger and Mr Wieland.
Loan documents show that North Lodge Holdings has a line of credit worth up to $102.5 million with FCCD Ltd, an Irish vulture fund run by US-based Fortress Investment Group. Mr Goldberger and Mr Wieland have personally guaranteed the loan.
According to its prospectus, FCCD is a 750 million ($A1 billion) fund that ''intends to invest in distressed assets and portfolios of distressed assets'', including ''companies in financial or business difficulties''.
Verticon's latest annual report, filed late last month, shows it hopes the homemaker centre will be sold by December next year, when it must pay a $1.5 million fee to its bank, Westpac. The company owes Westpac $44 million.
As of June 30, Verticon's current liabilities of $46 million dwarfed current assets of $3 million.
