DJ Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel Business Enters...

DJ Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel Business Enters Administration​

18/01/2016 09:18AM AEST​

By Rhiannon Hoyle


SYDNEY--Insolvency specialists have been called into Queensland Nickel, the metals business owned by Australian lawmaker and billionaire Clive Palmer.
Directors of the company have appointed administrators from FTI Consulting, which will assess "the financial position and ongoing viability of Queensland Nickel," FTI said in an emailed statement. It comes days after Queensland Nickel said it would lay off 237 workers to protect profits from weak prices of the industrial metal.
Mr. Palmer bought the nickel refinery in the northeastern city of Townsville from BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) during the last global commodities downturn.
FTI said it expects to update creditors on progress at a meeting later this month.
"No significant changes to the company's trading operations are anticipated in the immediate term," said John Park, FTI's Australian corporate finance and restructuring leader.