Renewables financier and developer Verdia has failed

Renewables developer and financier Verdia, which has high profile backers including former Wallabies captain John Eales, has gone into administration.

Verdia specialised in renewable energy solutions for large industrial companies.

Major renewables developer and financier Verdia has been placed in administration, with company documents indicating advisers were brought in to help try and right the ship almost a year ago.

The Sydney-based firm, which was set up in 2015 by former Westpac executive Frank Paduch and financial services executive Paul Peters, offered “energy as a service” solutions to large businesses.

The company has 50, mostly Sydney-based, shareholders including former Wallabies captain turned company director John Eales, numerous energy and financial services experts as well as French multinational Schneider Electric.

Documents lodged with ASIC indicate that the company issued about 625,000 shares, with $14.7m paid for the 500,570 A class shares on issue and $8.1m for the 124,950 B class shares.

Administrator Quentin Olde from advisory firm Ankura said Verdia owed about $20m to creditors with the majority owed to one major creditor.

The “energy as a service” or power purchase agreements allowed large industrial users to purchase renewable energy solutions, such as solar projects, without upfront capital investments.

Ankura was engaged in late November last year to advise the business, documents lodged with the corporate regulator ASIC show, with a meeting on November 9 this year convened to discuss “timeline and potential outcomes from a voluntary administration and deed of company arrangement (DOCA) process’’.

Mr Olde and Liam Healey from Ankura were appointed as administrators on November 11.

Mr Olde said the company would continue to operate while the viability of returning it to normal trade under a DOCA was assessed.

“They originally ran into trouble because of project delays during Covid,” Mr Olde said.

“They company has been trying to work its way through that over the past year with some debt restructuring but it got to a point where it wasn’t able to get all of the lenders to agree on a way forward.

“There’s about $20m in creditors’ debt and 21 employees.

“We’re working on a DOCA proposal with the directors and the shareholders. It’s early days in this process but there are certainly prospects of the business continuing.’’

Verdia has completed major projects for companies such as Coca-Cola Amatil, Stockland and the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Development.

The CCA project was billed as “one of the largest industrial solar PV programs in the country’’, including 10,000 solar panels in all.

Mr Olde said Verdia still owned some assets developed for clients however most projects had passed to other owners.