Company that operated Adelaide Ice Arena until February 28 collapses with $3m in debt

The company that operated the Adelaide Ice Arena until recently is in liquidation – with debts of more than $3m.

The company that operated the Ice Arena until late February – and is related to the company currently managing the business – owes more than $3m to creditors, its liquidator says.

Liquidator David Ross, of I&R Advisory, said ACN 643 112 485 – which previously traded as Ice Arena Adelaide Pty Ltd – owes “various” creditors more than $3m.

Mr Ross said his investigations into the company were ongoing, and an initial report had been sent to creditors.

“In terms of our investigation it’s still very early days, it is ongoing at this point in time,’’ he said.

“We request that creditors supply any information that can assist us.’’

Transport company AM Logistics contacted The Advertiser this week, saying it had been chasing a debt of more than $14,000 owed by Ice Arena Adelaide Pty Ltd for three months.

The Ice Arena is Adelaide’s only ice sports venue.

AM Logistics says it agreed to a compromise payment of less than the full amount – which was also not paid – and when a threat to recover the funds through legal avenues was made, the company was placed in administration.

The Advertiser has seen correspondence from the logistics company dated February 11 indicating it would take “necessary steps” to recover the money if payment wasn’t made by February 14.

The company was placed in administration on February 28.

Michael Boyle, the chief executive of Agile Group, which currently operates the Thebarton centre, said in a statement to The Advertiser the AM Logistics debt was disputed, and in any case, “the AM Logistics claim was not material to that company’s position’’.

“Agile Group is contracted to manage and operate the Ice Arena at Thebarton,’’ he said.

“It previously was managed and operated by Ice Arena Adelaide Pty Ltd before it went into external administration in late February 2022.’’

The company that was placed in liquidation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Agile Holdings (Australia), and until September last year, both companies shared a common director in Mr Boyle, who stepped down from the Ice Arena company at that stage.

Mr Boyle said of the $3m in debt, less than $1m was owed to external creditors, with the most significant external credit the Australian Taxation Office. The lion’s share of the debt, more than $2m, was owed to Agile Group itself, he said.

In response to a question on the Ice Arena’s Facebook page about the liquidation of Ice Arena Adelaide Pty Ltd, which now appears to have been removed, the page administrator said Agile Group had been running the centre for the past two years.

“Agile Group manage the operations for the Ice Arena and have done for almost 2 years,’’ the post said.

“The ABN listed on ASIC’s website was a transitional entity to keep the Ice Arena running the COVID pandemic (sic).

“Rest assured there are no issues and this doesn’t affect the day-to-day running and you can still enjoy the Ice Arena as always for years to come.’’

While the quote still exists online, the middle paragraph relating to the “ABN listed on ASIC” is no longer online.