Deals & Departures

Ferriers scores PPB pair as deal deadline approaches

After considerable deliberation PPB Advisory co-founder Steve Parbery has joined Ferrier Hodgson, less than two weeks ahead of the scheduled completion date of PwC’s acquisition of PPB Advisory, the firm Parbery co-founded with Max Prentice and Vince Barilla in 1983. Parbery has had carriage of some of the highest profile insolvency matters in the country, including Lehman Brothers and more recently in his capacity as Special Purpose Liquidator of Queensland…


Jirsch Sutherland appoints new managing partner

Jirsch Sutherland announced this week that Sule Arnautovic will hand over the baton to colleague Brad Morelli after 10 years as national managing partner. In a news alert distributed to Jirsch subscribers on Wednesday afternoon,  Jirsch said Morelli would take over from Arnautovic on July 1, 2018. “I’m excited about taking the helm of the firm,” Morelli is reported as saying. “We will also continue to provide…


Borrelli Walsh speaking to PPB Advisory partner

As the August 1 deadline for PwC’s digestion of PPB Advisory approaches, Insolvency News Online (INO) has learned that Borrelli Walsh is speaking to PPB Advisory partner Mark Robinson as the Hong Kong-based insolvency specialist moves closer to establishing a presence down under. Calls to Robinson were  not returned but the intel is good and we understand Borrelli Walsh is also speaking to PPB staff who have…


PPB takeover gives PwC’s Vickers convenient exit

Derrick Vicker’s troubled tenure as liquidator of the Ostwald Brothers construction group is set to come to end, with the PwC partner preparing to make way for John Park and Kelly Anne Trenfield of FTI Consulting on the basis – according to Vickers – of a potential conflict destined to emerge once PwC completes its acquisition of PPB Advisory (PPBA) on August 1. For Vickers,…


Ex-BRI Ferrier pair punt on specialisation trend

Costa Nicodemou and Brett Lennane are betting on specialisation to underwrite their new venture, Newpoint Advisory which opened for business in Sydney’s MLC Centre last month. Nicodemou and Lennane were principal and consultant respectively at BRI Ferrier NSW before departing in April this year. Nicodemou told Insolvency News Online (INO) there were no hard feelings in relation to the departure, despite him having worked for and with…


PwC/PPBA – RLs make partner but staff await offers

It may well come down to differing definitions of what constitutes a partner but however a firm structures itself, almost a third of PPB Advisory (PPBA) partners will no longer enjoy the cache the term confers once their company is formally absorbed into the professional services collectivate of PwC on August 1, 2018. Sources revealed yesterday that while 30 of PPBA’s 33 partners will be moving to PwC,…


PwC/PPBA deal stalls Borrelli Walsh move down under

International insolvency and restructuring firm Borrelli Walsh has temporarily shelved plans to establish an Australian office in the wake of PwC’s purchase of PPB Advisory (PPBA). A source close to the firm told Insolvency News Online that the Hong Kong-headquartered firm had been about to sign a lease for premises in Sydney when news broke about the PwC takeover of PPBA, details of which were revealed exclusively by INO in: Merger: PPB…


Dear readers, for some time this organ’s coverage has ventured beyond the geographical boundary implied by the word Sydney in the title Sydney Insolvency News. To reflect our national focus on the insolvency and restructuring professions we bring you our new masthead, Insolvency News Online (INO). We like to pronounce INO as “Eye Know” and like to think our readers know because they read INO….


Threat to block PwC/PPB takeover overlooks obvious

Earlier this week it was reported that Clive Palmer was seeking to block the sale of PPB Advisory (PPBA) to PwC but our sources report that the initial application for interim freezing orders against PPBA founder Steve Parbery and partner Michael Owen was dismissed late last Friday afternoon and withdrawn before it was due to be heard yesterday. Overnight Palmer – believed to be holidaying in Europe – said…


Jamie Oliver VA extension not about fees: BDO

Creditors of the failed Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group (Australia) are likely to go without a dividend the Federal Court heard yesterday, as voluntary administrators (VAs) BDO made an ex-parte application to extend the convening period for the second meeting of creditors by four months. It’s been widely reported that prior to it being placed in VA last month, BDO and KordaMentha had helped negotiate a sale…