Grocon creditors to vote on liquidation at end of month

The fate of Grocon’s legacy construction arm is set to be decided at the end of the month.

The fate of Grocon’s legacy construction arm is set to be decided at the end of the month when out-of-pocket creditors meet to vote on whether to liquidate the business.

Grocon owner Daniel Grollo has also submitted his proposed solution for creditors of the failed business, outlined in a deed of company arrangement which administrator KordaMentha is now reviewing.

KordaMentha on Thursday said it will hold a critical second meeting of Grocon creditors on March 30.

Creditors will be presented with a report ahead of that meeting outlining what KordaMentha thinks is their best course of action to recoup funds.

Daniel Grollo. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

At the March 30 meeting creditors will vote on whether to accept a deed of company arrangement endorsed by Korda Mentha, wind up the failed businesses and liquidate their assets or hand them back to Mr Grollo.

Grocon has imploded since November, with dozens of companies owned by Mr Grollo being placed in voluntary administration in three major chunks.

Mr Grollo first called in administrators in November, placing 39 companies into voluntary administration with debts of around $60m although much of that was tied up in a web of complex inter-company lending.

As it now stands, 88 companies have been placed into administration.

The collapse of Grocon has also claimed Mr Grollo’s Eureka Tower penthouse apartment which will be sold off by the administrator.

Mr Grollo, who took full control of Grocon in 2012, oversees a sprawling corporate structure of more than 110 companies.

A Grocon building site in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Daniel Pockett

He aims to emerge from the collapse of his main Grocon business overseeing a smaller company with a focus on the emerging build-to-rent sector.

The third-generation Grocon heir has blamed his empire’s downfall on a legal stoush with the New South Wales government over disputed views from a development at Barangaroo in Sydney.

Mr Grollo is understood to want creditors to back a deal which links any payment to Grocon winning a legal case seeking $270m in damages against Infrastructure NSW.

On Thursday he declined to provide a copy of his proposed deed of company arrangement, saying it was a matter for the administrator.