Sydney print company liquidated over $164,000 debt to Fuji Xerox
22 Feb 2012 | Nick Bendel | Comment Now
The former owner of Beaver Press has been involved in a third corporate collapse in two years, after Fuji Xerox wound up his existing company over a $164,000 debt.
A court appointed Rodgers Reidy as liquidator of Goodcrowd Integrated Print Communications on 9 February, following a winding-up order from Fuji Xerox Australia on 23 December, believed to be motivated by outstanding payments on an iGen3 digital colour press.
Liquidator Geoffrey Reidy told ProPrint he believed Goodcrowd Integrated Print Communications owed Fuji Xerox $164,000 and an unknown number of creditors another $40,000, though exact figures were unavailable because he hadn't done forensics on the company's books.
Goodcrowd Integrated majority owner Robert Francis was philosophical about Fuji Xerox's move to wind up his business. "They had to do what they had to do."
Francis also owned Beaver Press, which filed for voluntary administration in April 2010, and was managing director of Goodcrowd Pty Ltd, which collapsed in March 2011 owing Fuji Xerox $428,000.
At the time, Fuji Xerox told ProPrint that a considerable portion of its debt had actually been paid off.
Francis said: "Beaver Press went broke. The domino effect from that was that two Goodcrowds went down as well."
He told ProPrint he had lost $8-9 million in the Beaver collapsed and had "walked away with not much at all".
Francis said he was now bankrupt, had retired and was focused on looking after his terminally ill wife.
It is unclear why Fuji Xerox continued to back Goodcrowd Integrated after risking a haircut in the collapse Goodcrowd Pty Ltd, as the vendor refused to comment.
However, it is understood Fuji Xerox managed to retrieve the iGen3, which it had originally sold to Beaver Press.
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