Shane Warne’s shock death has been blamed for the collapse of a gin manufacturer he backed in Washington.
Gin Brothers, which trades as SevenZeroEight in honor of Warne’s Test wicket, was placed into administrators by accountancy firm RSM last month.
The former cricketer owned one-third of the business and used his considerably powerful social media reach to promote the gin.
Gin Brothers directors told administrators that his sudden death in Thailand in March aged 52 had dealt the company a major financial blow, although they also cited poor strategic management and marketing failures.
Commenting on the collapse in its statutory report, RSM said a dispute between shareholders, which saw related parties withdraw their support, was another factor in the company’s financial difficulties.
It appears that the business will be wound up unless the administrators receive better purchase offers than those presented so far.
RSM, which put Gin Brothers on the market as a going concern, said that while it had received several offers, none offered better profitability than liquidation.
The company owes an estimated $1.75 million to 21 unsecured creditors, including trade creditors ($125,628) and the Australian Taxation Office ($113,992). The balance was claimed by its shareholders.
Most of the residual value is made up of shares in the O’Connor-based company, which are held in three warehouses across the country.
The directors believe there was about $945,000 of gin on hand when the administrators were called.
The company stopped distilling after Warne’s death, fulfilling a limited number of orders from stock.
https://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/loss-of-warne-cited-as-a-factor-in-the-collapse-of-wa-gin-producer-he-helped-found-c-8624761
