Following on from the news that the (company formerly known as) Future Entertainment Pty Ltd has entered into liquidation, leading to the likely cancellation of Summadayze as the investigation into the wind-up of three Future-associated companies begins, further research has dug up evidence of another major Australian promoter’s financial issues.
According to documents obtained by Tone Deaf from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), McManus Entertainment Pty Ltd – the primary business for Australian concert promoter Andrew McManus – has been placed under voluntary administration, just weeks after changing its legal name, potentially to avoid scrutiny.
Back in July, McManus Entertainment Pty Ltd officially changed its name to the less conspicuous Irving Road Pty Ltd, with Andrew McManus listed as its sole director and shareholder. The company is now listed as being placed into administration as of the 3rd of September, according to documents obtained from ASIC, and creditors to the company have been given a deadline until 12th September to register proof that they are owed money.
Additionally, the official McManus Entertainment website has been taken down while the promoter’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have not had an update since May, which was just after the promoter brought out Aersomith for an Australian tour and a co-joining appearance at April’s inaugural Stone Music Festival.
The liquidation marks what has been a tough year for McManus, who was in dispute with the organisers of Stone Music Festival ahead of having the two-day event absorb Aerosmith, the band he was touring, into their lineup. Then he lost out on bringing over Fleetwood Mac for an Australian tour to rival promoters Live Nation, and in the process lost a NZ$ 50,000 deposit to a New Zealand stadium he’d booked for the West Coast rock legends.
Then in June, the Aussie promoter put his Toorak mansion up for sale; the third time he’s attempted to sell his 1,389 square foot property, fitted with a 12-car garage, gym, home theatre, and pool, for around $10 million.
In addition to the liquidation of McManus Entertainment’s primary business, a joint venture between the promoter and Universal Music, Sydney Resolutions Pty Ltd has also been placed under voluntary administration.The company was responsible for the 2011 Sydney New Years Resolution music festival with a lineup featuring Jamiroquai, Culture Club, and more. McManus is no stranger to liquidations however, as this is not the first time that the music promoter has formed a new company to stave off impending financial troubles…
McManus’ company owned 50 of the 100 shares of Sydney Resolutions Pty Ltd, while Universal Music Arts & Entertainment is listed as owning the other half.
McManus is no stranger to liquidations however, as this is not the first time that the music promoter has formed a new company to stave off impending financial troubles. As used to illustrate in the recent case of Future Entertainment, a detailed report from The Age reveals a similar scenario happened two years ago.
Funnily enough the company that has now entered liquidation (nee McManus Entertainment) was formerly known as Andrew McManus Presents (Australia) Pty Ltd, which was created in January 2011 after the promoter transferred assets from another of his businesses; the separately registered Andrew McManus Presents (International) Pty Ltd – which also changed its name to Miz Pty Ltd on 4th July, 2011.
The following day, liquidators were called in to assess the former McManus named business, only to find an “empty shell of a company” stripped of its assets, “with $4.2 million in debts and a mere $15,251 in the bank,” according to The Age. Meanwhile, the original McManus Entertainment company continued unabated by financial struggles, until now.
It’s an example of a highly questionable, but technically legal, business practice called ‘phoenixing’, in which a business collapses, owing creditors large amounts of money, only to ‘rise from the ashes’ under a new moniker and free of its previous company’s debts.
There are no documents to suggest that McManus has created yet another company to transfer the assets out of McManus Entertainment before it changed names to Irving Road and entered liquidation for another round of ‘phoenixing’, but the financial fall-out is still being felt from the 2011 liquidation.
While creditors of the 2013 editions of Future Music and Summadayze are left wondering if their debts will be repaid, a recent report from Nicholas Giasoumi, the registered liquidator that’s handling the 2011 liquidation of McManus’ previous company, notes that the amount of money owed to 86 unsecured creditors is estimated at around $4,247,179.83; two years on, only $238,252.82 of that figure has been recovered.
The liquidator is being paid $84,843 of that figure for its services, while future expenses from the 2011 liquidation will leave approximately 3.1% of that original $4m+ figure to go to the 86 creditors, who have yet to see a cent of the money two years on from the company’s collapse.
Creditors that have been placed in this kind of situation before haven’t fared well in the past. The messy financial collapse of Peats Ridge Festival painted a similarly alarming story in which creditors and liquidators were left searching for scraps amidst accusations that the festival’s promoter had embezzled $1.3 million and attempted to wipe records; the fallout out from Peats Ridge is still being felt as it mires through a sticky saga.
Then there’s the case of Fat As Butter promoters Mothership Music, who entered voluntary liquidation after losing a crucial court case seeking over $400,000 in damages against Flo Rida for his 2011 festival no-show, while the liquidation begins for the three companies that were tied to Future Enterainment which seems to have ‘phoenixed’ itself, while disgruntled creditors begin to surface to the reported tune of over $50,000 in debts from Future Music Festival 2013 and Summadayze 2013.
Tone Deaf reached out to McManus Entertainment for comment, but they were unreachable at the time of publication.
Any creditors or associated suppliers who wish to provide further information can contact [email protected]
