Plan to relist

Barely a week after the collapse of embattled surf and skate wear retailer SurfStitch Group, administrators have received a proposal to restructure and relist the company, an outcome that would preserve some value for longsuffering shareholders.
The confidential proposal was received on Tuesday morning before the first SurfStitch creditors meeting at the company’s headquarters at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.
Administrator John Park, of FTI Consulting, said the proposal was received from a party who had previously been ‘‘involved’’ with SurfStitch.
However, he refused to say if it had come from co-founder and former chief executive Justin Cameron.
‘‘It was submitted on a private and confidential basis at this stage,’’ Mr Park told journalists. ‘‘All I can say is I have received one [deed of company arrangement proposal] in a draft format today,’’ he said. ‘‘It is a proposal to see ... a relisting of the vehicle.’’
Mr Park said he expected to receive more restructuring proposals and it was ‘‘not a given’’ that shareholders would be wiped out.
Mr Cameron resigned in March 2016 purportedly to pursue a private equitybacked privatisation proposal, which never eventuated, and has been keeping a watching brief on the business.
Mr Cameron told The Australian Financial Review last November he might try to privatise the online retailer if the right opportunity arose.
‘‘I’m still a significant shareholder in the company,’’ he said at the time. ‘‘Today I continue to maintain a watching brief on the business and opportunities that may present themselves.’’
Crown Financial Group managing director Kim Sundell, SurfStitch’s largest major creditor after the collapse of a $20 million content deal, said he had been approached by two parties interested in restructuring SurfStitch.
However, he did not believe the proposal received on Tuesday was from Mr Cameron.
‘‘I’m 90 per cent sure it’s not from him, I don’t think he’d have the face to do something like that,’’ Mr Sundell told the AFR on Tuesday. ‘‘We were asked if we would compromise our debt and to be shareholders in the post DOCA company. We’d consider it but I’d need tosee something more.’’
Other creditors of the holding company are Herbert Smith Freehills and SurfStitch chief executive Mike Sonand.
Mr Cameron and co-founder Lex Pedersen founded SurfStitch in 2007, selling boardshorts out of Mr Cameron’s garage in Sydney’s northern beaches. The pair floated the company in December 2014, issuing shares at $1. The stock reached $2.12 in November 2015, valuing the company at more than $500 million or almost 50 times earnings, following a spate of acquisitions.
Mr Cameron wanted SurfStitch to become the Amazon Prime of the action sports world and use documentaries, interviews and surf cams to engage customers.
Between December 2014 and December 2015, SurfStitch outlaid more than $120 million in cash and shares on five acquisitions, including $24 million for Surf Hardware International, $21 million for Stab, an online surf content platform, and $15 million for Garage Entertainment, which made action-sports films and videos.
The wheels started to fall off in February 2016, when Mr Cameron, a former investment banker, backed away from full-year guidance, saying the company wanted flexibility to invest in content to drive sales.
In June 2016, SurfStitch reversed a $20 million content transaction with Crown Financial Group, leading to an $18.8 million underlying loss. SurfStitch shares plunged 50 per cent to 18.5¢ and continued to lose ground, closing at 6.8¢ before the stock was suspended in May.
SurfStitch bought itself breathing space last month by appointing John Park, Quentin Olde and Joseph Hansell of FTI Consulting as administrators.
Mr Park expects to submit his report and restructure proposals in four to six weeks.