VA’s bare bones adjournment bid gets the okay

Worrells’ Ivan Glavas had some luck this week when a judge agreed to adjourn the hearing of an application to wind up Stone Solutions Sydney Pty Ltd (SSSPL).

Glavas was appointed administrator of SSSPL January 9, 2026 after petitioning creditor the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer (WCNI) commenced winding up proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court in September last year.

No such luck has been had by WCNI in getting its winding up application heard with the debtor company succeeding in obtaining two adjournments before Christmas, initially on the basis that its director Blake Johnson needed time to arrange finance to discharge the debt.

No doubt WCNM’s lawyers recommended their client consent. Procedural fairness must prevail over the efficient recycling of capital.

And whether the proposed finance was ever a genuine option became irrelevant once Glavas was appointed, having received a referral from business advisor Michael Attipa.

But on Monday WCNM, by now out of patience as well as luck, resisted a fourth bid for adjournment brought by Glavas.

This time the court heard the hearing of the winding up should be put off until creditors can avail themselves of Glavas’s report, to be redistributed ahead of the second meeting.

Barring any order granting an extension to the convening period which almost certainly won’t be sought, the second meeting must be held no later than February 16.

And the reason that report is critical enough to again delay winding up hearing is because a Deed of Company Arrangement (DoCA) is being proposed, one that promises $150,000 up front followed by another $200,000.

Creditors have already heard there’s no hope in liquidation. And despite NSW Supreme Court judge Peter Brereton hearing that the deed funds are to be sourced from the director’s family and friends, that no firm details of the funds’ source or sources were provided by Glavas’s lawyer and that Glavas’s estimate of his remuneration and costs if he is appointed deed administrator would leave the deed fund all but destitute, the judge decided an adjournment was warranted.

Pity the petitioning creditor I say. To the court it turns for aid when the stat demand’s unpaid. But if the debtor – cap twisting in trembling hands – begs forbearance, it’s all but rubber stamped.

This is the perception of being fair beyond reproach trumping all other concerns at work. And when the parties return without payment being made a new excuse is proffered, the cap’s contorted anew and fresh excuses offered, more fraught than before though still formally undeposed to.

If a debtor’s hopes of further adjournments are nevertheless quashed then their unexpected substitution by a voluntary administrator can, as seen here, wind the speedo back to zero.

The application before the court on Monday also sought orders that Glavas be appointed liquidator if the court refused to adjourn and instead heard the winding applicaiton.

As WCNI’s lawyer indicated it would seek its own nominee it will be interesting to see who’s admitted to vote at the second meeting. Stay tuned.