Michael Brereton.
In a shock to no one rival insolvency practitioners appointed to parts of Sanjeev Gupta’s metastasising steel and minerals group have found cause to disagree. Without the chemotherapy of settlement, open court surgery is certain.
The tumour of competing entitlement in this instance involves more than $18 million held by the ANZ Bank pursuant to bank guarantees and interest over which appointees from KordaMentha and William Buck each claim priority.
“We have formally written to the OSM Administrators regarding their conduct and have put them on notice to immediately repay all interest accrued under the ANZ bank guarantee facility paid to OSM, post their appointment, to the Company, instruct ANZ that the Company, as beneficial owner, is to receive all guarantees that are released and, should the Company suffer any loss or damages as a result of the Reissued Guarantees, we intend to pursue them for damages personally. We are yet to receive a response.” Michael Brereton, William Buck.
The bank guarantees were issued by Liberty Primary Metals Australia Pty Ltd (LPMA) in favour of creditors of sibling entity OneSteel Manufacturing (OSM).
OSM is the operating entity for the Whyalla Steelworks and has been in the hands of a quad of administrators from KordaMentha headed by Lara Wiggins since February 2025.
On November 1 last year William Buck partner Michael Brereton and colleagues Sean Wengel and Rashnyl Prasad were appointed administrators of LPMA and on December 1 issued a report creditors.
Amid reams of detail about deeds of cross guarantee, of forbearance and of revocation – the tendons and ligaments of Gupta’s corporate Frankensteins – was reference to a specific source of inflammation.
Correspondence no less, seen by the LPMA administers, indicating that Wiggins and her co-administrators had formed the view – thanks Leon – that funds held by ANZ pursuant to the LPMA bank guarantees were held by LPMA on trust for OSM. LPMA creditors were left in no doubt as to what Brereton, Wengel and Prasad thought of that.
“The assertion made by the OSM Administrators is not supported by any underlying evidence and is inconsistent with the Company records and, as far as we are aware, is not supported by any security registration by OSM,” Brereton said.
“Our inquiries indicate that since the appointment of the OSM Administrators, OSM has continued to collect the interest accrued under the ANZ bank guarantee facility without the Company’s (LPMA) consent.
“Furthermore, the OSM administrators instructed ANZ, without the Company’s consent as beneficial owner of the monies provided under the bank guarantee facility, to re-issue two guarantees totalling $110,000 which expired in August 2025 and have instructed ANZ that the release of any further guarantees is to be paid to OSM.
“We have formally written to the OSM Administrators regarding their conduct and have put them on notice to immediately repay all interest accrued under the ANZ bank guarantee facility paid to OSM, post their appointment, to the Company, instruct ANZ that the Company, as beneficial owner, is to receive all
guarantees that are released and, should the Company suffer any loss or damages as a result of the
Reissued Guarantees, we intend to pursue them for damages personally.
“We are yet to receive a response,” Brereton concluded.
Neither Wiggins or Brereton responded to iNO’s enquiries which included asking Wiggins if she’d responded to the LPMA administrators and Brereton when he’d commence the threatened proceedings.
Further reading:
In the “old days” it used to be described by reference to dogs discussing actions over a juicy bone.