The founder and managing director of the failed Worx Equipment business is leading a new company which was established by his partner a few weeks after administrators were called in.
The founder and managing director of the failed Worx Equipment business is leading a new company which was established by his partner a few weeks after administrators were called in.
Scott Wolfenden, whose Worx Equipment business was last month placed in the hands of administrators with liabilities estimated to be around $40 million, has emerged as the leader of new business called Oremax Mining Services.
A company called Oremax Mining Services was registered on April 4, by his partner Latara Ogle who is the sole director and shareholder of the newly established business, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission records.
Mr Wolfenden declined to comment on the market focus of Oremax.
Founded in 2018, Worx Equipment grew to be a specialist in rental of earth moving equipment and supply of maintenance technicians.
Oremax was registered less than three weeks after the March 18 appointment of Rob Kirman and Rob Brauer from McGrathNicol as administrators of Worx Equipment, Worx Equipment Holdings and Rigel Assets.
ASIC records show the three companies had Mr Wolfenden as a sole director.
Reports on company activities and property filed by the administrator to ASIC on April 9, show that Worx Equipment Holdings owed at least $25 million and had assets worth more than $41 million.
However, Mr Kirman said these numbers did not reflect the full picture.
He said most of those published numbers related to equipment against which finance was secured through hire-purchase agreements.
Mr Kirman added that there were also likely significant liabilities that had yet to crystallise under various rent-to-buy or rent-to-buy option arrangements, pushing total liabilities for the group to around the $40 million mark.
Unsecured creditors had yet to be determined.
A similar report relating to another linked company, Worx Equipment, showed it had more than $7.8 million in receivables, the majority older than three months which related to a single customer Red Dog Mining & Civil, itself under external administration.
Mr Kirwan said the administrators had sought to sell the business as a going concern but there had not been a viable offer, so the strategy had moved to a controlled wind-down of the business.
In response to questions from Business News, Mr Wolfenden issued a statement that he said was drafted after taking legal advice.
In summary, Mr Wolfenden stated that the collapse of Worx Equipment was the result of a series of compounding operational, financial, and strategic challenges over the past 18 months.
These included early contract terminations, delayed refinancing, asset devaluation, and internal shareholder conflict, each of which critically impacted the company’s solvency.
