‘Not credible’: Property investor’s Porter Davis rescue plan fails, causing more hurt for customers

Porter Davis customers are grieving yet again after a property magnate’s bid to save the business took a dramatic turn.

Devastated customers of failed home builder Porter Davis have been dealt another blow after an eleventh hour move to save the business was rejected by liquidators.

The CEO of Melbourne real estate investor MIG & Sons, Amit Miglani, offered to buy out the company outright following its collapse last month.

Under the proposal, the businessman said he would purchase the “whole business”, which included keeping all jobs, subcontractors and finishing all unbuilt projects.

“About 770 or 800 contracts have been signed and the work hasn’t been started – [we want to] finish them as well,” he told 3AW hosts Jacqui Felgate and Jimmy Bartel, who stepped in for Ross and Russel on Monday.

Real estate magnate Amit Miglani offered to buy out the company. Picture: Instagram/@amitmiglaniofficial

However, Mr Miglani’s rescue bid was rejected within 24 hours of his offer after liquidator Grant Thornton declared the proposal as not “credible”.

“While we have no reason to doubt Mr Miglani’s intention, we do not believe this is a credible offer to acquire the Porter Davis Group,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“Mr Miglani has not undertaken any due diligence and is unable to complete a transaction in an expedited time frame which is a key requirement of the liquidators.

“We remain in active discussions with a short list of parties in order to find solutions for some Porter Davis customers, and to otherwise provide clarity to the remaining customers in relation to the status of their build, and options for them to engage with new builders to complete their homes.”

Mr Miglani’s proposal followed the insolvency firm’s appointment to 14 companies under the group, which had over 1500 properties under construction in Victoria and an additional 200 in Queensland.

A further 779 customers are understood to have signed contracts with the home developers, with those builds yet to start.

Under his proposal, Mr Miglani said his main focus was Victoria, however he didn’t rule out the Queensland contracts, stating his company would look at them “very closely too”.

The 470 staff who are employed at the company would have also kept their jobs if MIG & Sons was successful in acquiring the company under the real estate expert’s plan.

“The only person who knows this job very well is the staff in Porter Davis themselves and keeping them alive that’s probably the best bet at the moment,” he said.

Additionally, Mr Miglani asked to spend a week with the “higher authorities of Porter Davis” to discuss what mistakes were made and how his team could rectify those issues.

“The higher authorities in Porter Davis probably know where the stuff-up or the mix-up has happened and we can rectify it rather than be cherrypicked by different builders and liquidators going around and ripping everything apart,” he said.

“The community is the one who is going to suffer at the end of the day. There are going to be a lot of losses, there will be a lot of life savings gone … so let’s just go out and do something for the community this time.”

Mr Miglani’s offer could help hundreds of Porter Davis customers. Picture: Ian Currie

The liquidator’s rejection didn’t come as a shock to some given there were already doubts the businessman’s plans – which were backed by a team of investors, auditors and builders – wouldn’t come to fruition.

“I’m concerned the liquidator has made public comments in the last 24 hours that indicate that the current proposals before them could result in hundreds of employees without jobs, subcontractors without payment and countless homebuyers in financial ruin,” he told the Herald Sun earlier on Monday.

However, upon finding out its decision, Mr Miglani added he was prepared to give the liquidator any information it required to verify his company’s credibility and couldn’t understand what its intentions were behind the rejection.

“There are significant errors of fact in Grant Thornton’s statement,” he said.

“At no stage did Grant Thornton say anything to us about the credibility of our offer and if they need further information, we have everything they may need.

“Grant Thornton has already been told we can meet any timelines that are required.”

Mr Miglani, has over two decades of experience in the real estate industry and specialises in property investment portfolio growth.

The property magnate narrowly averted jail after pleading guilty to withdrawing $100,000 out of his agency’s trust account to indulge on personal luxury expenses in 2021.

Rather, he was sentenced to an 18-month Community Corrections Order.

Grant Thornton is currently holding discussions with builders to complete some homes. Picture: Ian Currie

Grant Thornton liquidators are currently holding talks with over 20 builders who have offered to help complete homes for Porter Davis customers.

The liquidators have identified over 250 homes which they believe will qualify for occupation certificates given how near they are to being completed.

“For those customers where PDH is unable to offer handover under the current contract, we expect to be in a position to introduce them to replacement builders within the coming week to discuss how their home build may be completed,” a Grant Thornton spokesperson said in a statement last week.

“We appreciate this is a stressful time for all PDH stakeholders and we thank you for your continued patience while we work to find alternative options and possible solutions for customers.”