Multiplex scion Andrew Roberts considers plan to rescue Victorian arm of his construction firm

A court has a granted a two-month extension for tycoon Andrew Roberts to prepare a rescue plan for the collapsed Victorian arm of his construction company, as the amount owed to creditors hits $272m.

Amazon facility under construction in Victoria. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Tycoon Andrew Roberts is preparing a rescue plan for the collapsed Victorian arm of his construction company, but the timing could be pushed back as administrators have won an extension to consider options for the builder.

At the same time, the total amount owed to creditors has blown out to about $272m, making the collapse one of the building sector’s largest failures and leaving in limbo at least four large building projects in Melbourne.

The Multiplex scion is working with financial advisers De­loitte on a plan that could result in parts of the stalled business operation being resuscitated and taken back out of the hands of administrators McGrathNicol.

The firm last week won permission in the Federal Court for a two-month extension to a second meeting of creditors while a deed of company arrangement is worked up that could provide a better outcome than liquidation.

The administrators told the court they had held discussions with Mr Roberts after they were appointed last month and that he was working with the remaining directors of parent firm Roberts Co on preparing a DOCA for the company for consideration at the delayed meeting.

The construction firm’s projects included a Melbourne CBD tower for apartment developer Golden Age and a build-to-rent project in the suburb of Footscray for Oxford that has topped out, as well as a partly built four-level Amazon distribution centre in Melbourne for Asian warehousing giant ESR.

The extended delays in getting the company’s large projects restarted could make it hard to keep subcontractors on the jobs, and developers may also seek out new builders to finish off work.

The building sector has been rocked by a series of collapses in the housing segment, and the Roberts failure left tradies owed about $50m.

The administration has been complicated as it only covers part of the broader Roberts Co operation, which is still running in NSW and other parts of Australia.

The company had sought to severe the problematic Victorian operation from its books in February by revoking a deed that connected their debts via a guarantee.

But the administrators have the opportunity to reverse this and seek to recover funds from the broader Roberts Co operation if the company goes into liquidation in the six months after the revocation.

Tradies are owed about $50m from the collapse of Roberts Co’s Victorian arm. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The complexities of trying to make recoveries for subcontractors, keeping bondholders in line and working through inter-company loans and with secured ­creditors has already left the administrators needing more time. They must work out whether any deed of company arrangement from Mr Roberts will provide a better outcome than a liquidation.

Mr Roberts, who has a fortune estimated at $896m, is one son of late Multiplex founder John Roberts, and was briefly at the helm of that company before it was sold off to Brookfield in 2007. He has tried to make his own way in the construction industry, first with an Italian partner and then on his own.

The firm capitalised on the ructions in the industry to buy the Victorian assets of the Probuild operation out of its collapse in 2022. But taking on these projects has proved a heavy burden to Roberts Co as it was beset by rising construction costs, difficulties in completing jobs, as well as rising liquidated damages as time frames blew out after the Covid pandemic.

Revenue for Roberts Co hit $820m in 2024 but it made just $2m, according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator. Its projects in other states include being part of the consortium building the $1.8bn Women and Babies Hospital in Perth.

The administrators have said any extension to convening the next meeting would not extend past the six-month period in which the revocation of the debt deed could be reversed if the ­Victorian subsidiary was put into liquidation. McGrathNicol also told the court it needed to consider the impact a liquidation of the company would have on the broader Roberts Co entity and how this could affect returns to creditors. The administrators have told creditors that if they got a proposal from Mr Roberts they would hold the second meeting of creditors at an earlier date.

There are also difficulties in getting such large projects back on track. All 48 staff at Roberts Co’s Victorian arm were made ­redundant on April 9, and the projects involve at least 180 subcontractors.

McGrathNicol and Mr Roberts declined to comment.

There were 2725 construction-related insolvencies in the period July 1, 2024 to April 6, 2025, according to data published by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission on Tuesday, up 24 per cent from the same period a year ago.