Failed concert promoter Phil Rankine has joined the list of creditors owed $20 million by his own companies
He was sole director of a company which was likely trading insolvent, but Phil Rankine now says he’s owed money too.
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Failed concert promoter Phil Rankine claims one of his own companies — which was placed in liquidation today — owes him more than $800,000.
The debts across Mr Rankine’s four concert promotion companies — which are all now in liquidation — have been estimated at $20 million.
Wexted Advisors, the administrators of the company Space Production, said in a creditors’ report that their preliminary investigations led them to believe the company had been trading insolvent since June 2017.
Wexted partner Andrew McCabe told The Advertiser that Mr Rankine’s claim was for his share of the profits from concerts — a claim which would now need to be tested by the liquidator.
The promoter of concerts including the upcoming Elton John concerts in Adelaide, Florence and the Machine and Phil Collins, appears to have laid part of his woes at the feet of media coverage.
According to the report: “The director has provided the following reasons for the company’s difficulties:
• the company, and related entities, experienced rapid growth with up to six major international shows at a time, and over 15 shows in the past two years;
• the shows were of a significant scale costing between $2m to $4m to produce per show; and
• current media and other circumstances have meant the business ceased, restricting the company’s ability to announce up to four new shows and inhibiting funding.’’
Mr Rankine’s difficulties appear to have started well before media reporting of his financial problems, however.
The Wexted report said its investigations showed “that the company did not maintain adequate books and records and the financial position of the company was poorly managed”.
“It is our view that the director did not properly inform himself of the company’s trading position and the viability and profitability of concerts,” the report stated.
“There appears to have been a lack of separation of accounting for each concert with capital investments and production costs being commingled across different concerts.’’
Including Mr Rankine’s own claim for $857,534, the administrators identified debts of $14.6 million, including $5.9 million owed to North Adelaide conveyancer Alex Dianos and more than $4 million owed to a group of European investors.
The report said Mr Rankine appeared to have raised $11.9 million from investors over the past two years to fund the production of up to 15 shows.
Other shows Mr Rankine’s companies brought to Adelaide include Shania Twain, Bon Jovi and Prodigy.
Some of the investors who put money into Mr Rankine’s group of companies include companies associated with the great-grandson of Sir Sidney Kidman, William Abel-Smith, which are owed $2 million, while former Crows player Mark Ricciuto is owed $250,000.
Ticketmaster is also owed $2 million, which was an advance on the money raised by selling tickets for December’s two Elton John concerts in Adelaide.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
AUGUST 20: Phil Rankine’s companies owe more than $20m
AUGUST 8: Rankine’s empire falls into hands of administrators
JUNE 21: Overseas investors sued for $4 million
JULY 23: Third company owned by Rankine faces court action
MAY 31: His company loses court battle over debt demand
MAY 24: How The Advertiser broke the story
The Wexted report said Mr Rankine advised that $4.3 million had been paid to the European investors to settle demands earlier this year, and a liquidator might need to examine whether these were unfair preference payments.
Space Production had six bank accounts, cumulatively overdrawn by $650.
The creditors voted to put the company in liquidation and it will now join two of Mr Rankine’s other companies — Space Events and Space Touring — being overseen by Martin Lewis of KPMG.
Mr Rankine could not be contacted
cameron.england@news.com.au