Lobster Cave owner Bill Ferg’s eleventh-hour offer to creditors to avoid bankruptcy

The owner of Melbourne’s famed Lobster Cave restaurant has pitched an eleventh-hour offer to creditors in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy and settle debts of more than $7m.

The owner of The Lobster Cave restaurant has put forward an eleventh-hour offer to creditors to avoid bankruptcy.

The owner of Melbourne’s famed Lobster Cave restaurant has put forward an eleventh-hour offer to creditors to avoid bankruptcy.

The deal, which aims to settle debts totalling more than $7m, was made two days before Vasilios Fergadiotis, better known as Bill Ferg, faced a bankruptcy hearing in the Federal Court in Melbourne.

If creditors reject the proposal, known as a personal insolvency agreement, Mr Ferg can be forced into bankruptcy.

He would be required to step down as director from his various companies and give up his shareholdings in them.

LangdonGrant insolvency experts Paul Langdon and Ian Grant, who have been appointed trustees overseeing the personal insolvency agreement, took control over Ferg’s finances and property less than two weeks ago.

They revealed a list of 34 creditors are owed close to $7.1m, including American Express ($80,766), loan providers Flexi Commercial ($79,238) and Shift Financial ($260,000), and dairy producer and distributor Saputo Dairy Australia ($494,464).

Also on the list is popular pasta company San Remo owed more than $76,000.

San Remo has recently joined legal action as a supporting petitioner in the near $1m bankruptcy claim against the hospitality veteran, court documents reveal.

San Remo has recently joined legal action as a supporting petitioner in the near $1m bankruptcy claim against the hospitality veteran. Picture: Facebook

Mr Ferg is a creditor himself, claiming close to $2m via companies including Lob Nominees ($1.6m) and The Ferg Group ($415,000).

Lob Nominees owns the Lobster Cave’s business name and website.

His now-liquidated companies Extramile Trading and Marsh Dairy Products are also owed over $1.2m and $1.1m respectively.

He is the current director of five businesses, and was the director of three others that have since collapsed into external administration.

A search of property records shows Mr Ferg does not currently hold any property in his own name.

The Herald Sun understands one of Mr Ferg’s key assets was a five-bedroom house in Black Rock in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs.

It was owned by the company Lobster Cave Nominees but ownership was transferred to six different parties in 2021, three of which included Mr Ferg’s wife and children.

The property was sold in July for $2.8m.

A sprawling block of land on Beach Rd in Beaumaris, which was part owned by a trust linked to the Ferg family, was also sold for $3.4m in June.

It is not known if Mr Ferg has any other assets.

The Herald Sun previously revealed that Mr Ferg had been hit with the Federal Court action over the takeover of a former business.

Mr Ferg has run The Lobster Cave in Beaumaris for close to four decades. Picture: Mark Stewart

Mr Ferg, who has run The Lobster Cave in Beaumaris for close to four decades, had already been dealing with significant financial woes after a number of his businesses collapsed into insolvency.

Any court action taken against Mr Ferg by creditors has been suspended until the vote.

Mr Ferg told the Herald Sun the decision to put forward a personal insolvency agreement to creditors was “not made lightly”.

“(It) follows a prolonged period of economic challenges, particularly in the hospitality industry,” he said.

“It is a personal matter and does not encompass any other entities.

“I accept full responsibility for my financial position and am committed to managing it with professionalism and transparency.

“This is a humbling experience, and I approach it with humility, gratitude for the lessons it brings, and a commitment to handle it with dignity and integrity.”

He said in the meantime it was “business as usual”.

“Despite the challenges, I remain focused on moving forward and doing so in a way I can be proud of,” he said.

Originally published as Lobster Cave owner Bill Ferg’s eleventh-hour offer to creditors to avoid bankruptcy