Oceania Glass’s Dandenong factory will be closed as administrators struggle to find buyer

About 150 jobs are at risk as administrators shut down Oceania Glass’s flagship Dandenong factory after being unable to find a buyer for one the country’s biggest glass makers.

Oceania Glass makes architectural glass.

Administrators Grant Thornton will shut down Oceania Glass’s flagship Dandenong factory with more than 150 jobs at risk, with the firm saying it had been unable to find a buyer for the company, which is the nation’s only architectural glass maker.

Oceania Glass, which is owned by private equity firm Crescent capital Partners, was placed in voluntary administration in early February with Grant Thornton’s Lisa Gibb, Said Jahani and Matt Byrnes installed as administrators.

While the administrators have been trying to sell the business as a going concern, they said on Thursday they had been unable to find a suitable buyer and would shut down the company’s main manufacturing site at Dandenong.

The remainder of the business is focussed on distribution, meaning Australia will no longer have a major manufacturer of architectural glass.

The administrators said on Thursday that 56 people would be made redundant immediately with the potential for another 95 job losses in coming weeks.

“Joint and several voluntary administrators of Oceania Glass have been unable to secure a buyer for the business as a whole, and regretfully glass manufacturing at the company’s Dandenong factory will cease shortly,’’ the administrators said.

“As a result, the administrators have had to make the difficult decision to make 56 employees at the Dandenong manufacturing facility redundant effective immediately with the potential for a further 95 redundancies over the coming weeks as the company’s float line and production facility is wound down.

“The distribution facility co-located in Dandenong will continue to operate as usual as over the forthcoming weeks whilst the administrators continue to explore the sale of the company’s national distribution business as they work with several interested parties through a due diligence process.

“We wish to extend our thanks to the employees of Oceania Glass for their patience and co-operation during this difficult time as we begin the process of ceasing manufacturing operations at the Dandenong factory.

“We acknowledge this latest outcome is stressful for employees and their families and are providing support services to those affected’’

Last year Oceania Glass successfully argued that Chinese and Thai competitors were dumping glass products into the Australian market at subsidised prices, with the Anti-Dumping Commission initiating an investigation “to determine whether dumping duty notices and a countervailing duty notice should be published’’.

While that investigation is ongoing, it has clearly come too late to save the company, and is not scheduled to report back with a recommendation until June.

Oceania Glass was founded in 1856 and claims to be the only architectural glass manufacturer in Australia.

A statement on the company’s debts was lodged with the corporate regulator ASIC in recent days, indicating Crescent Capital itself had lodged the largest debt claim against the business at $48.7m.

Logistics company Toll is claiming $1.7m, industrial materials company Holcim almost $1m and Boc $571,000.

A specific current debt position has not been released by the administrators, however the company’s most recent annual report, for the year ended March 31, 2024, indicates at that time it had borrowings of $48.7m and overall liabilities of $118.8.m.

The company turned over $181.7m in that financial year, down from $207.9m, and employed 259 people.

Oceania lost $1.2m in that year, compared with a profit of $6.3m the previous year.

Originally published as Oceania Glass’s Dandenong factory will be closed as administrators struggle to find buyer