Hi i have just been sent this!
Shows they setup the uk divison knowing full well it was all going to be liquidated?
thats my understanding of this
Richard Evertz, the chief executive of scandal-plagued Big Un Limited, has resigned after its main business unit, Big Review TV, was placed into voluntary suspension on Tuesday.
The decision to call in the administrators was taken by the directors of Big Review TV, Brandon Evertz, Richard's 23-year old son and Sonia Thurston, the communications director of the company, as part of a restructure aimed at "preserving value for shareholders" in the suspended company.
DW Advisory, a Sydney-based insolvency firm, will now oversee the sale of the unit and is expected to lodge a preliminary report within three business days. It comes just days after Big Review's main financier, FC Capital, offloaded its debts to AS Ventures, a two-week-old company set up by insolvency expert Adam Shepard.
Mr Shepard, now the main creditor of Big Review TV, said he hads taken assignment of "tens of millions" of dollars of debt owed to FC Capital by Big Review TV.
DW Advisory's Anthony Elkerton said the administration process was still in the early stages after being appointed by the directors late on Monday.
"Our role is to secure assets, investigate the affairs of the company and report to creditors," the told The Australian Financial Review.
Mr Elkerton said he was told a reorganisation of the company has been on the cards for some time.
"They decided the easiest way was through a voluntary administration," he said.
While insiders may have been plotting a restructure of the business, individual shareholders are coming to terms with a near-total wipe-out of their investment in the former market darling. Big Un Limited told investors it would continue to operate two businesses it acquired in 2017 from its existing premises with existing management".
These units are BHA Media and Food and Beverage Media Limited, which were acquired from the Intermedia Group for a combined consideration of $6.2 million.
Shares in Big Un Limited last traded in mid-February at $2.22 implying a market capitalisation of $380 million. The shares were subsequently suspended after the the exchange queried the company about its unusual financing arrangement with FC Capital that advanced funds to Big Review TV before customers had agreed to use its service.
The largest shareholders in Big Un Limited are Sydney businessman Anthony Meyer, who owns over 10 per cent of the company, and entities controlled by Brandon Evertz, chairman Hugh Massie and Sonia Thurston. Another Sydney businessman, Clive Riseam, owns about 3 per cent of the company.
Wages owed
Big Review TV staff are also awaiting further news from the company about funds owed to them. Staff based in Sydney were informed by Big Review's head of human resources for the second consecutive day to take leave without pay as the board sought to resolve issues with the business.
The company is believed to owe staff two weeks of wages and unpaid commissions. A staff member said the company recently moved to paying commissions a month in delay, leaving them further out of pocket.
Big Un also announced its controversial chief executive, 50-year old Richard Evertz, had resigned. It followed earlier pressure to step down from former chairman Hugh Massie, who in turn resigned after Mr Evertz refused to give up his position.
The board, which includes his son Brandon Evertz, who founded the business as a 19-year old, Ms Thurston and US investment banker Nicholas Jordan, accepted his resignation.
Mr Evertz may go down as one of the most controversial chief executives in Australian corporate history. In 2007, he served as CEO of Imagine Un after changing his name to Richard Evans following a family dispute.
That company ran into trouble after the Federal Court found he engaged in false and deceptive conduct. In 2010, he changed his name back to Richard Evertz. Mr Evertz then became the chief executive of Big Un Limited, which, like Imagine Un, found its way on the Australian Securities Exchange via a backdoor listing in 2014. The Australian Financial Review subsequently revealed that Mr Evertz had been convicted of blackmail in 1994
Big Un continues to be the subject of an investigation by the exchange and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Despite the negative publicity and heightened regulatory scrutiny, sources told The Financial Review that a group of powerful shareholders were planning to relist in the United States and may seek to acquire the remnants of Big Review TV that will be advertised for sale as part of the administration process.
Earlier in the week, Big Review TV shuttered its Los Angeles-based US operation, but several insiders are based in the United States including former chairman Hugh Massie. Big Un also made several deals in the US before being suspended, acquiring unknown mobile phone application developer Tiplsy, while signing a partnership with David Steinberg's Zeta Group
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