A new meeting will be held next week in a bid to resolve Australian fashion business Nique, three months after the brand fell into voluntary administration.
In a new report seen by Ragtrader, the administrator has recommended that creditors enter a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA), instead of choosing to liquidate or end the administration.
According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), a DOCA is a binding arrangement between a company and its creditors governing how the company’s affairs will be dealt with. The aim is to maximise the chances of Nique continuing as a business and provide better return for creditors than an immediate winding up of the company.
The administrator noted that the company is believed to have been insolvent since mid-2021 and is unable to pay all of its debts, with evidence indicating Nique will not return to a state of solvency.
The best-case scenario, under the DOCA, estimates a maximum return to priority creditors of 100 cents in the dollar, with a return to unsecured creditors of only 13.20 cents in the dollar.
According to the report, unsecured creditors is estimated to be at $9,370,386, with statutory creditors - including GST, PYAG and payroll tax - being estimated between$549,299 and $575,799.
The administrator added that they believe it may be difficult to achieve the maximum return in a liquidation scenario.
The administrator also claimed that ending the administration is “not appropriate”. If creditors instead choose to wind up the company, Nique would go into liquidation.
Amid this latest development, Nique’s website appears to have been taken down, with no further activity seen on its social media channels.