Oceania Glass, which collapsed into administration this week, has a huge debt pile

Australia’s biggest glass maker is sitting on a debt pile worth more than half the company’s annual turnover, its administrators have revealed.

Architectural glass is a feature of many modern homes.

Initial investigations reveal Oceania Glass owes its creditors more than $125m, its administrators say, as an urgent review into the collapsed architectural glass company’s operations continues.

Grant Thornton’s Lisa Gibb, Said Jahani and Matt Byrnes were installed as administrators of the Dandenong-based company earlier this week and are continuing to run the business, with an urgent sale process likely to be run.

The company employs about 260 people and is a crucial cog in the Australian building industry, being Australia’s only supplier of architectural glass.

The administrators said the investigations into the company’s affairs were ongoing ahead of a creditors’ meeting scheduled for Friday, February 14.

“The voluntary administrators are currently working through the review of creditor claims and will be in a position to provide an update next week,’’ Grant Thornton said in a statement.

“Indicatively, total claims are in excess of $125m. We will continue our investigations into the circumstances leading to our appointment, and we will report on this in due course.”

Oceania Glass was founded in 1856 and is now owned by venture capital firm Crescent Capital Partners.

The company has in recent years been complaining to the government of unfair competition from cheap Chinese and Thai imports, and last year successfully argued that foreign 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’’.

Australian Workers Unions Victoria secretary Ronnie Hayden said the company’s collapse was a bellwether for the crisis facing Australian manufacturing.

“Our immediate focus is on understanding the situation and supporting our members through this challenging period,’’ Mr Hayden said.

“However, we must also address the broader crisis in Australian manufacturing.

“While the government speaks of a ‘Future Made in Australia,’ we need concrete action to protect and strengthen our domestic manufacturing capabilities, particularly in essential industries like glass production.”

Mr Hayden said the union would be meeting with state and federal politicians to discuss the future of Oceania and glass manufacturing in Victoria.

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.

The administrators said upon their appointment that selling the business as a going concern was the priority.

“In continuing to trade the business with a view to a going concern sale, we will work to mitigate the potential disruption to customers and the broader sector,’’ they said.

“If an appropriate buyer cannot be found during the voluntary administration period and the administrators are faced with the difficult decision to shut down the business, we believe this period will allow customers to make alternative sourcing arrangements and significantly reduce disruption to the broader construction industry.

“We appreciate this is an extremely difficult time for employees of the company and their families, and we will provide them with as much transparency as possible during the voluntary administration process.”

Oceania Glass is a large energy user and one of the 200 or so companies in Australia captured by the Safeguard Mechanism, which mandates targets for emissions reductions from these firms out to 2030.

Originally published as Oceania Glass, which collapsed into administration this week, has a huge debt pile