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🇦🇺 Australia /Economy & Trade

Bathla stands down staff after securing short-term funding

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Bathla Group reached a two-week funding agreement with five lenders, allowing construction to continue on projects linked to those lenders.
  • About 213 employees were stood down as work on other projects was suspended, while administrators seek longer-term financing for the debt-laden developer.
  • Bathla entered administration with $3.4 billion in debt, putting hundreds of projects and thousands of planned homes in doubt.

Bathla Group has secured a short-term financial lifeline, but the agreement will keep the debt-ridden property developer alive for only another two weeks. Funding from five lenders will allow construction to continue on projects associated with them, while work on other developments was suspended.

The decision resulted in approximately 213 employees being stood down. Bathla has around 350 employees, many of them working on visas, and staff learned their fate at an all-staff meeting on Monday morning. Administrators did not identify the lenders providing the funding or say which of the group’s 45 projects would continue.

Administrator Stephen Longley said the funding provided the central support needed to keep some construction moving, but warned that more money was required. “Significant work remains to secure the funding required to progress and ultimately complete all projects currently under construction,” he said. The administrators estimate that supporting construction costs between $1 million and $1.3 million a week, depending on the projects that remain active.

Bathla entered administration at the end of August after failing to pay $3.4 billion in debts. Teneo later secured emergency funding to meet payroll obligations after revealing that some employees had gone unpaid for eight weeks. The administration has put about 200 projects across New South Wales in jeopardy, including roughly 2,000 homes under construction and another 13,000 in the development pipeline.

Administrators had sought additional funds from existing lenders and asked the New South Wales government for a $20 million lifeline. The state government declined to provide bailout money. Bathla’s latest funding arrangement gives selected projects more time, but administrators continue to seek the financing needed to keep the broader group operating.

Significant work remains to secure the funding required to progress and ultimately complete all projects currently under construction.

· Stephen LongleyThe administrator described the further financing needed after Bathla secured a two-week funding arrangement.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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