Carriageworks writing was on the wall well before administration

Administrators were appointed at Carriageworks in Sydney as losses mounted in the face of coronavirus lockdowns. Picture: AAP

On Tuesday the arts world was devastated to learn that Sydney cultural institution Carriageworks wouldn’t survive the unfolding global health crisis, after being placed into voluntary administration in the hands of administrators from KPMG.

But the art hub’s board, led by investment banker and Prime Media director Cass O’Connor, whose career has included stints with Mark Carnegie and John Wylie’s old shop Carnegie Wylie and Malcolm Turnbull’s Turnbull and Partners, saw the writing on the wall well before this week.

KPMG’s entree into the Redfern institution came via leading corporate law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, with the call made to KPMG special adviser and corporate failure veteran Stephen Parbery that Carriageworks was in dire straits and needed urgent assistance.

With money rapidly running out, in the fortnight leading up to KPMG’s official appointment this week, Parbery and his colleague Phil Quinlan dialled into at least five teleconference meetings with various members of the Carriageworks executive and board, which also includes pokies heir and philanthropist Geoff Ainsworth and Herbert Smith Freehills partner Michael Gonski, who is the son of ANZ chair David Gonski.

Down the line over the series of meetings, Parbery and Quinlan were given information on Carriageworks’ financial position that would allow them to make a call on how solvent the arts institution was.

Eventually the they’d be asked to outline just what options were available to the O’Connor-led board and management to try to drive operations out of the coronavirus-led hole, as well as the possibility the group might need to be handed over to administrators.

By Monday, the path was clear and Carriageworks was declared a corporate failure.

The first meeting of its creditors, which include the Matt Comyn-led Commonwealth Bank holding security over Carriageworks’ assets, will be held on May 15.

That gathering will be virtual thanks to COVID-19, held via a video conference with KPMG at its Sydney offices.