TO THE HAMMER SCORN
Condev Construction’s collapse this week follows an unwanted line of financial destruction on the Coast
THE collapse of Gold Coast construction giant Condev has shaken the city’s business sector to the core.
The company went into liquidation on Wednesday morning after failing to secure a $25m bailout from its developer partners.
It was crippled by a “perfect storm” of spiking material costs, flood damage and the effects of Covid on its massive workload – more than $1bn in towers across southeast Queensland.
It all happened 18 months after Condev was named the Gold Coast’s business of the year.
The collapse is the latest in a long line of Coast big business falls in the past 35 years.
From leading businessmen to theme parks and financial companies, these are some of the most memorable:
1989: QINTEX
Colourful businessman Christopher Skase bought Qintex in 1975 for $15,000. That’s right, $15,000. By the late-1980s it was worth $2.2bn on the back of building Marina Mirage and the Sheraton Mirage at The Spit.
Skase, via his company, cofounded the Carrara-based Brisbane Bears Aussie rules team, built its stadium and giant floodlights and bought the Seven network.
The company collapsed in 1989 with debts of more than $200bn as the economy was hit by a serious slowdown.
Skase himself had debts of more than $700m when he escaped from Australia in 1991.
Qintex was wound up in 1994. Devastated shareholders got 2c on the $1.
1990: NATCON
The recession of the early 1990s was a hammer blow to the Gold Coast’s economy.
Multiple builders and developers went to the wall, including Sanctuary Cove founder Mike Gore, Thiess Watkins White and Wilson Industries.
Among the early victims was Natcon, a company that operated real estate, property development and joinery design divisions.
The Southport-based firm helped build Sanctuary Cove in the mid-1980s and was hired by the Hawke government to design and fit out the office suites of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader in the newly opened federal parliament.
Initially occupied by Bob Hawke and John Howard, the suites, still largely with their originally fittings, are still used today by Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.
The company went into liquidation owing 600 creditors more than $11m.
1990: DREAMCO
The Coomera-based theme park founded nearly a decade earlier by John Longhurst went into receivership in 1990.
Mr Longhurst sold Dreamworld in 1989 to Dreamco, headed by Porsche-driving businessman Bruce Jenkins, for $170m.
But Mr Jenkins struggled to meet loan repayments almost immediately. In one incident, he reportedly made one repayment by taking out another $2m loan.
Time ran out for Dreamco in July 1990, with the company owing its mortgagee, IOOF Friendly Society, more than $174m.
IOOF ultimately clocked up an estimated $100m interest bill on top of the debt.
Despite this financial trouble, Dreamworld was able to continue operating and reported itself to be in a strong financial position on the back of strong visitation figures.
The park’s future remained in limbo for more than four years until mid-1994 when the Federal Court in Melbourne ratified a scheme of arrangement, allowing the park to be sold to Singapore tycoon Kua Phek Long.
New Dreamworld CEO Fred Maybury revealed just how dire the situation got in a 1996 interview.
“Nothing could sustain the amount of debt that occurred at that point of time,’’ he said.
“I think it was $180m worth of debt when interest rates were in excess of 20 per cent.’’
1991: WITAN GROUP
The Southport-based company collapsed in 1991 but left behind a significant legacy – Australia Fair Shopping Centre.
Founded by developer Pat Zarro in the 1970s, Witan built the shopping centre originally known as Scarborough Fair, in 1981. Following this success, Mr Zarro unveiled plans to build the world’s tallest highrise in Surfers Paradise – a 195storey supertower.
But a series of bad investments ultimately saw the Witan Group fail with more than $400m in debts and Mr Zarro himself bankrupted.
2008: MFS
MFS Group, later known as Octaviar, was flying high in 2008, controlling more than $5.4bn of investor funds.
But in 2008 it was discovered some of the company’s executives had misappropriated $147.5m and illegally shifted it to pay off the climbing debts affecting the company.
It collapsed in September 2008 with debts of more than $1bn to unsecured creditors.