Receivers confident of finding buyer for Tritium

Failed fast-charger company Tritium has pushed back a meeting of creditors to September as receivers race to sell the business that could owe more than $500m.

Tritium CEO Jane Hunter and PM Anthony Albanese at the company’s Brisbane factory in 2021. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Failed fast-charger company Tritium DCFC has pushed back a meeting of creditors four months as receivers race to sell the business that could owe up to half a billion dollars.

Receivers and managers McGrathNicol said the meeting originally scheduled for Monday would now be held in September to allow bids or sale options for Tritium to be assessed.

McGrathNicol said there had been strong interest in Brisbane-based Tritium, which appointed administrators and receivers in April with debts that could total more than $500m.

It said it had commenced a sale process for the company shortly after being appointed, with a view to identifying a suitable new owner, noting the considerable investment to date in the development of new EV-charging products internationally.

As part of the process it said it had been contacted by, or had contacted directly, a number of parties that have established operations in the EV charging and electronic component manufacturing sectors, as well as potential financial sponsors.

McGrathNicol partner Kathy Sozou said the interest received had been encouraging but not surprising. “Tritium DCFC has established a prominent position in the out-of-home, EV fast-charging sector in the US, Europe and in Asia,” said Ms Sozou.

“We are very confident the sale process will identify a new owner that can build on this success to date, and capture the opportunity to bring new Tritium products to market and grow the business, under a different capital structure.”

McGrath Nicol said the business had been stabilised and was continuing operations on a business-as-usual basis.

Tritium director Trevor St Baker. Picture: Liam Kidston

Rich lister Trevor St Baker, a Tritium director who is owed more than $100m by the company, said last week he was confident a rescue package will emerge.

A report on the company’s assets and liabilities, lodged with corporate regulator ASIC, shows the amount of debt claimed by the creditors has blown out well past $500m, up from a previous reported estimate of $260m.

Tritium was founded in 2001 by engineers David Finn, James Kennedy and Paul Sernia, and grew in recent years, winning deals with global players such as BP and Shell.

As recently as February the company’s US arm was touting new contract wins, such as a $US10.5m program to install fast chargers across the state of Tennessee.

However, the company’s focus on public and business-based DC charging stations has been identified as a weakness given that many of its competitors offer cheaper, home-based AC chargers. Another competitive threat comes from EV giant Tesla, which has a large public DC charging network in the US.

Tritium has been seeking new capital and investors, having burned through almost $190m setting up its huge Tennessee operations and facing high overheads at its Brisbane factory, which it ended up shuttering in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The closure of the factory is a blow to the Albanese government’s industry ambitions with the prime minister making several visits to the site over the past few years to spruik its credentials as a poster child for advanced manufacturing in Australia.

In February 2022, President Joe Biden praised investment by Tritium in the US in an announcement at the White House with chief executive Jane Hunter.