Radek Sali saw trouble coming at George Calombaris’ Made Empire

Former Swisse owner Radek Sali and George Calombaris in 2016. Picture:Rob Leeson.

Swisse vitamins millionaire Radek Sali called in corporate undertakers to assess George Calombaris’s now failed hospitality empire four months ahead of its eventual multimillion-dollar collapse at the start of this week.

Margin Call has learned that KordaMentha was called in last October by now venture capitalist Sali, who has 46 per cent of the Calombaris-led Made Establishment, to assess the operations and prospects of at least part of the celebrity chef’s restaurant empire.

Following a meeting of Made directors at lunchtime on Monday, KordaMentha was appointed as voluntary administrator of the group. Calombaris also controls about 46 per cent of the business, but is no longer a director.

The official appointment of administrators follows indications to KordaMetha’s Craig Shepard on February 4 that his services were likely to be required in coming days.

That was one day after Sali formally registered himself as a secured creditor of Made Establishment, alongside the company’s lender the Commonwealth Bank, which is believed to be owed around $10 million.

It is understood CBA has no intention of calling a receiver into the business to protect its financial interests at this stage.

In the meantime, former MasterChef judge Calombaris is yet to publicly emerge following the collapse of his hospitality empire.

Margin Call revealed on Tuesday that the chef and businessman was also being chased by the Victorian Government’s Commissioner of State Revenue for unpaid land tax relating to one of his three homes in Victoria. The commissioner has now lodged a claim over a $1 million house that Calombaris recently sold in Safety Beach, but which is yet to settle.

Calombaris, who has a young family, has now also put his $5 million-plus Toorak mansion up for sale and is said to be struggling to deal with the collapse of the business and restaurant empire.