From the Financial Review about Tritium. Apparently was close to break even in 6 months before the collapse into VA but mostly blamed on the SPAC listing.
Posting late since there is a 3 day hold on AFR articles in the Factiva account
SPAC listing blamed for Tritium fail
Tess Bennett 30 April 2024
Copyright 2024. Fairfax Media Management Pty Limited.
The receivers selling the shell of failed electric vehicle charging company Tritium have blamed its $2 billion listing via the controversial SPAC method for its demise.
The Brisbane-based company, which had been a darling of politicians and big-name investors including sometime coal investor Trevor St Baker, went public when it was acquired by a shell entity in 2022.
As restructuring experts trying to sell Tritium scour reasons for its demise, documents lodged with the corporate regulator show its leaders were preparing for its potential collapse five months before it went under.
Executives and directors from Tritium held 21 teleconferences with restructuring experts from KPMG between November 22 and April 18, when the Brisbane-based company was finally placed into administration.
The SPAC merger tied Tritium to a complicated and expensive capital structure without providing access to capital the company needed to survive, McGrathNicol partner Shaun Fraser told The Australian Financial Review.
"There was no financial benefit for Tritium through the SPAC merger and once it was listed on the Nasdaq the market judged it pretty harshly for a whole range of reasons," Mr Fraser said.
The US listing made the company more expensive to operate while inefficiencies in its production and manufacturing operations also strained its balance sheet.
"The combination of all of those things meant Tritium burnt through the capital it did have quicker than it was able to manage ... It was finding it increasingly difficult to fund the business," Mr Fraser said.
"The shame is it was probably only six to 12 months away from being cash flow break even, but they just needed more money to get there."
McGrathNicol is the receiver of Tritium, while KPMG is administrator. Mr Fraser said he had received significant inquiries, including from big companies that operate in the sector, and from parties interested in participating in an expedited sale process.
US credit funds, which have provided the company with money on a distressed basis since Christmas, have lent cash to pay wages and keep the business running throughout the sale process.
Documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show Tritium chairman Robert Tichio, chief executive Jane Hunter, Chris Hay of St Baker Energy Innovation Fund and others first met with KPMG on November 22.
The initial call came two weeks after the company announced it would close its Brisbane factory before Christmas, in a last-ditch effort to save itself.
The talks with administrators came after requests for a bailout from the Queensland government, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the nascent National Reconstruction Fund were rebuffed.
Taiwanese electronics giant Lite-On Technology also considered buying a stake in the embattled charger company, visiting Brisbane in late November to conduct due diligence. The investment did not happen.
