The private equity-backed interests of Techfront Australia, including its outdoor advertising LED screen provider Screencorp, have fallen into administration in what could be one of the first casualties of the vacuum caused by the COVID-19 disruptions.
Ryan Eagle and Gayle Dickerson of KPMG were appointed administrators this month to Screencorp, Techfront Australia and Techfront Infrastructure Solutions. A creditors’ meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
The company makes large screens for billboard operators in the Australian market such as oOh!media and JCDecaux and also works with the AFL, NRL and Lendlease.
It is understood its backers include private equity funds including Kolberg Kravis Roberts and Blackstone.
Screencorp’s directors are listed as Neil Maxwell of NSW and Muralidharan Srinivasan of India.
The company formed a strategic alliance with outdoor advertiser QMS in 2018.
QMS is now owned by Quadrant Private Equity, which launched a takeover bid for the business last year for $571.6m, including debt.
Techfront Australia continues to hold service-level contracts with QMS.
It comes after oOh!media made a narrow escape from collapse last month by tapping the market for $167m. The raise, at a 37 per cent discount to its last closing price, was supported by major shareholder HMI.
The media group, which operates billboards and signs, had been seeking ways to boost its equity levels while wrestling with a debt pile of $354.5m.
The challenge for all media companies is that their businesses are not generating any income because advertisers are not spending.
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