Nathan Gathercole has pulled the plug on his Sunshine Coast-based battery outfit Giant Power Australia
A Queensland entrepreneur immersed in the renewable power game has suffered a second company collapse in as many years. His latest outfit fell over with estimated debts of $2.2m.
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A Queensland entrepreneur immersed in the renewable power game has suffered a second company collapse in as many years.
Nathan Gathercole pulled the plug this week on his Sunshine Coast-based battery outfit Giant Power Australia Pty Ltd, which fell over with estimated debts of $2.2m.
He tapped Hall Chadwick operative Ginette Muller to act as administrator of the energy systems wholesaler.
Creditors are scheduled to meet for the first time next Friday at Muller’s office in Brisbane.
She was unable to divulge much to City Beat, telling us that it was still so fresh she hadn’t got a chance to get her head around the details.
But it’s understood that about half the debts are owed to related parties, with pressures from the pandemic and overseas competition among key factors in the crash.
Launched at Warana in 2014, Giant Power specialised in a range of 12-volt batteries, solar panels, hybrid inverters, powered fridges and accessories.
The firm’s website claims that it has overseen 3750 installations for 130,000 customers and shipped 540,800 batteries.
It’s understood that Gathercole has been supplying solar panels, batteries and other electrical equipment to the Australian market since 2009 through a variety of different entities.
TESLA MISFIRE
The demise of Giant Power follows the failure of Gathercole’s related company Aussie Off Grid Solar Energy Pty Ltd, which fell over last year owing $1.3m.
Signs of trouble first emerged in June 2019 when a couple sued to wind up the company in Brisbane Supreme Court over an allegedly unpaid $21,000 debt.
While that case was settled the following month, the business continued to deteriorate just two years after it started trading.
Following a $1.1m net loss in the 2019 financial year, Gathercole tipped the company into administration in November, appointing Daniel Moore of BCR Advisory in Brisbane to oversee the mess.
In a report to creditors, Moore revealed the firm had an ill-fated tie up with Elon Musk’s Tesla.
“The company attempted to expand by co-developing a new system with Tesla but this move ultimately failed,’’ he wrote.
“Tesla is the market leader but the development of the stand-alone off grid systems has slowed as Tesla purportedly devoted much of its recent development capacity to its motor vehicle division. Sales declined and the new product failed to emerge so trading was ceased.’’
Moore noted that Gathercole attributed the company’s failure to the Tesla debacle, as well as “lack of sales due to obsolete product’’.
But Moore identified another factor as well.
“My investigations indicate that, in addition, the company’s financial difficulties are due to lack of management skill and acumen by the director (Gathercole),’’ he said.
PROPERTY PLAYS
Rather than liquidate Aussie Off Grid Solar Energy, creditors opted for a “deed of company arrangement’’ which allowed it to keep trading. Some of those owed money eventually clawed back 54 cents in the dollar, Moore said.
While the DOCA ended in February this year, Gathercole deregistered the firm in late April and ASIC is now in the process of striking it off.
Meanwhile, even as his solar play was fast running off the rails, Gathercole dug deep to buy a number of properties across south east Queensland.
Records show he splashed out $1.67m for a 4ha residential site in Burpengary in late 2018. That same year he coughed up more than $1.3 million for two properties in Caboolture, each with 2ha of space.
The transactions were the latest in a series of real estate acquisitions and sales he oversaw in the past 15 years.
Gathercole did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.