Waratah businesses in liquidation

Waratah Group businesses Embassy Print, MW Assets, and Waratah Digital are officially in voluntary liquidation, four months after the group went under with debts of at least $12m.

Liquidator is Matthew Gollant of Courtney Jones in Melbourne.

Following a strong period of growth through acquisition Waratah Group – which comprised many of what were the biggest names in Melbourne print – entered voluntary administration followed the company having spent the best part of the year battling cashflow issues.

Some of the 170 staff were taken on by Finsbury Green, which bought the customer list of Waratah Group and Embassy Print. Waratah Brand Services was not part of the deal, and continued under the stewardship of former Waratah CFO Steve Lewis.

Waratah had struggled to pay its tax bill a year ago, and was facing a winding-up order from the ATO before coming up with the cash. It has also had issues with superannuation payments, which it recently outsourced. It had asked for voluntary redundancies among its press operators. It had been looking to move from its Port Melbourne base to a less expensive production centre in Melbourne's west.