Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels falls behind on tax bill, stadium fees

[wholetruth]

The biggest question in my mind is how the rebels kept their financial difficulties quiet enough to not be mentioned in the initial list of teams asking for a bailout in the centralisation discussions.
They appear to still have plenty of traction in head office

And now we have this.
BRC Capital, a major investor in technology companies and real estate, is facing questions about its solvency after four subsidiaries were wound up in the last month, adding to financial pressure dogging the Melbourne Rebels.
I think you are on the mark about financials being kept quiet.
How was all this kept under the blanket as they were getting ready to surrender to RA.
Or, was that exactly as planned for the RA lovechild.

[jargan83]

Full article was available when I tried on my phone - formatting might be a bit off.

BRC Capital, a major investor in technology companies and real estate, is facing questions about its solvency after four subsidiaries were wound up in the last month, adding to financial pressure dogging the Melbourne Rebels.

The investment company is a key sponsor of the Super Rugby club, one of five in the league, and its chairman, Paul Docherty, also chairs the Rebels.
Four of BRC Capital’s investments – 3DMediTech, Hiro Brands, Aware Environmental, and HoodAI – have been placed into administration or issued with wind-up orders over the last four weeks.

Directors of some BRC Capital investments have received penalty notices from the Australian Taxation Office, alerting them to the non-payment of tax over a period of several years.

Rebels insiders are questioning the solvency of the football club, which The Australian Financial Review revealed last week was struggling to pay its tax bills and was behind on stadium fees. Sources said the ATO had also issued penalty notices to the club’s directors over failures to make payments – a move that could later lead to administration.

Mr Docherty said BRC Capital would maintain its sponsorship of the Rebels, but did not answer questions regarding the director notices that suggest tax liabilities could range from $100,000 to millions of dollars.

“Capital markets are hard everywhere,” Mr Docherty said, of the collapse of several of his companies. “It is all unrelated to the Rebels.”

The Rebels board has eight directors: Georgia Widdup, the daughter of former Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford; Tim North; Treasury Wine Estates board member Lyndsey Cattermole; Gary Gray; Owain Stone; Neil Hay; and Dominic Shipperley, a former player.

The Rebels share some directors with Mr Docherty’s companies.
HoodAI, which pivoted from helping customers move house to using artificial evidence to find utility connections, secured a $16 million facility in 2021. REA Group is an investor, as is the wealthy Myer family, Ms Cattermole, and Pat Davies, the former chief executive of EBOS.

HoodAI was placed into administration in November, and has been embroiled in a payment dispute with a contractor.

Hiro Brands, which manufactures cosmetics, last booked a $50 million valuation in 2020. It had a high-profile board that included former Myer chairman Garry Hounsell and Ms Cattermole. After a failed tilt at the ASX boards in 2022, it was on track to hit $70 million in revenue this year, the Financial Review’s Street Talk column reported. McGrathNicol had also been tasked with finding a strategic minority investor. But in November, Hiro was wound up after it failed to pay bills owed to one of its contractors.
3DMediTech, which has been awaiting approval for its 3D-printed COVID-19 tests, banked $6.1 million in 2020. It was declared insolvent in November.
Aware Environmental, a manufacturing company, has also been wound up.
BRC has an array of other investments. The Financial Review reported last year that it had purchased a large inner-city Melbourne site and estimated the project could create a $600 million development in a precinct earmarked for health and biomedical innovation.

https://www.afr.com/technology/melbo...0231213-p5er56

[shasta]

"HoodAI, which pivoted from helping customers move house to using artificial evidence to find utility connections"

WTF does that even mean? Anyone around here who can translate corporate/AI gobledeygook?

[The InnFORCEr]

Groundhog Day....same story different names

[GIGS20]

And now we have this.
BRC Capital, a major investor in technology companies and real estate, is facing questions about its solvency after four subsidiaries were wound up in the last month, adding to financial pressure dogging the Melbourne Rebels.
I think you are on the mark about financials being kept quiet.
How was all this kept under the blanket as they were getting ready to surrender to RA.
Or, was that exactly as planned for the RA lovechild.

Tim North is still on the Rebels board and it's pretty clear that he has incontrovertible evidence of somebody high up in RA playing golf with Lucifer.

Therefore nothing would surprise me.

[wholetruth]

This is on The Code website but is behind the paywall. My heart goes out the Rebels - not really - although I would not want to see their players go through what ours did as innocent parties.

Rebels existence in jeopardy amid debt crisis, merger in play
The Melbourne Rebels’ very existence is under threat as financial problems plague the Super Rugby club. JAMIE PANDARAM has the details. SUBSCRIBE for the full story

[shasta]

My heart goes out the Rebels - not really - although I would not want to see their players go through what ours did as innocent parties.

I'd say I feel the same about their true supporters. A fair few of us here have met a fair few of them along the way since 2006. Shared a few jars and a few good natured jibes. Their problem is there has not been enough turning out at AAMI Park. That and their crooked administrators.

Considering the general state of SR in Australia, they are not alone there. We are fortunate to have a hard core of supporters, a benefactor with a few quid and pretty good administration. There but for the grace....

[brokendown gunfighter]

I'd say I feel the same about their true supporters. A fair few of us here have met a fair few of them along the way since 2006. Shared a few jars and a few good natured jibes. Their problem is there has not been enough turning out at AAMI Park. That and their crooked administrators.

Considering the general state of SR in Australia, they are not alone there. We are fortunate to have a hard core of supporters, a benefactor with a few quid and pretty good administration. There but for the grace....

yep

[jargan83]

[wholetruth]

Wow. Anyone got access to the full stories?

[oxleymoron]

I am currently on assignment in Rebel territory so will see what i can find in the rags tomorrow

[jargan83]

While in the past RA would have come to the rescue and helped pay off debt, that’s no longer the case.

After failing to secure a $200 million private equity deal to help shore up the five Australian Super Rugby sides, RA recently was forced to take up another $80m loan deal to help keep them afloat before the British and Irish Lions tour Australia in 2025.

Despite that, RA has told the Super Rugby franchises they won’t reinstate the $1.7m payments they pulled following the onset of the Covid pandemic because, if they did, they would run the game into the ground.

Despite that, The Roar understands RA is $15m short of where they need to be to service the game properly, particularly with the women’s game, especially the XVs program, becoming more of a priority ahead of the 2029 World Cup.

https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/12/2...-will-be-fine/

[AndyS]

The obvious question being what they think "properly" means, particularly in relation to RA itself and the Wallabies machine...

[jargan83]

Good question, I'd assume that it references expected running costs?

[GIGS20]

Good question, I'd assume that it references expected running costs?

I think the question is more about the fine details in those expected running costsSomething like
Wallabies 23.8 million per annum
Super Rugby 15 million
Mens 7s 1.2
Women's sevens 600k
Walleroos Oily Rag
Club they'll be paying us