Iconic Australian company AWA will meet with creditors on 7 March 2014 after going into administration at the end of February. AWA's board of directors appointed administrators from PPB Advisory on 25 February, and these administrators are now undertaking an "urgent review of AWA's business and operations" with the potential for the company to be sold off as a going concern?—?that is, as a business that will continue to run under new owners.
Formerly known as Amalgamated Wireless Australasia, AWA has a 105-year strong history in Australia, starting out as an agent of German telegraph company Telefunken and spanning radio and TV broadcasting.?After a brief stint under the ownership of Tabcorp in the early 2000s, AWA Limited was spun off as an independent company once more in 2004, and has more recently had a presence in big box retailers with its AWA-branded entry level LCD TV panels. AWA now bills its?business as a provider of "independent technology service solutions for large organisations, ICT and AV vendors, resellers, distributors and outsourcers" according to its website.
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The company currently employs approximately 250 staff in offices across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Newcastle; it also subcontracts a network of service agents in more than 700 locations across Australia, some of whom have begun voicing their concerns about the administration on online technology forums.
In a statement announcing the administration, PPB Advisory administrator Phil Carter said administrators were seeking to sell the company's business and assets in order to be able to continue to provide service to AWA's customers:
We are currently conducting an urgent review of AWA's business and operations with a view to preparing AWA for sale as a going concern in the short term. Our priority is to maintain business as usual in order to ensure AWA's blue chip customer base continues to receive the support and service expected from AWA while we work with management and key stakeholders to achieve the best outcome.
We appreciate that customers, employees and other key stakeholders will be concerned about the future and we will be working to achieve a sale of the business as a going concern in a timely manner.
The statement also confirms that "expressions of interest are being sought for the business and assets of the company with immediate effect".
Fairfax newspapers are today running advertisements listing AWA Limited as a "business for sale" with the sale process coming under the control of joint receivers and managers Jirsch Sutherland. Providing a background on the "scale and resources" of the company, Jirsch Sutherland details that AWA provides approximately 15,000 service calls per month and approximately 40,000 inventory transactions per month.
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