A coal mine owned by billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has been placed into voluntary administration on the eve of a court petition that could have forced its sale. The move halted the possible liquidation of Tahmoor Coal's owner, Liberty Primary Metals Australia (LPMA), over unpaid state debt and keeps alive a contested sale process.
About 500 workers have been without work since the mine south-west of Sydney closed last February, caught up in the financial turmoil surrounding Gupta's GFG Alliance. The mine's parent company, LPMA, was placed in administration in November, with an expressions-of-interest period for potential buyers set to close on February 11.
A local consortium led by the mine's majority contractor, RStar, had made an offer of $350 million to buy the mine outside the expressions-of-interest process in the past fortnight, hoping to get the mine operational quickly. GFG Alliance confirmed it had entered Tahmoor Coal into voluntary administration as the NSW Supreme Court prepared to hear a winding-up application brought by Coal Mines Insurance (CMI) over unpaid premiums.
The last-minute move was designed to prevent creditors from forcing liquidation. GFG Alliance said the voluntary administration was fully funded and intended to preserve value, safeguard jobs, and allow the ongoing sale to continue. Tahmoor appointed Joseph Hayes from Wexted as administrator, who will review the sale process over the next two weeks.
Justice Ashley Black granted a one-week adjournment to allow Hayes to undertake his investigations. Mining and Energy Union south west president Bob Timb said the situation should not have been allowed to get to this point and pushed for a swift sale. CMI is seeking to recover $4.7 million in unpaid premiums, and financial statements showed unpaid creditor claims exceeding $18.9 million.
