Australian manufacturer of electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment tritiumcapital diverted to the US market, declared bankruptcy.
Troubled Tritium, in an April 18, 2024 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), called for the appointment of an administrator.
“On April 18, 2024, by resolution of the board of directors, it was determined that the Company and its three Australian subsidiaries, Tritium Pty Ltd, Tritium Holdings Pty Ltd and Tritium Nominee Pty Ltd… had lost their viability. solvent or likely to become insolvent,” the filing read.
The filing states that KPMG's Peter Gothard, James Dampney and William Colwell should be appointed joint and several administrators of the Nasdaq-listed company.
They will take control of the appointed companies.
Australian reports that McGrathNicol's restructuring team has been appointed as receivers and administrators of Tritium, Shaun Fraser said that the team's immediate focus is on stabilizing the company's operations and working closely with employees, its customers and suppliers “to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties” .
Mr Fraser said: “The process to sell Tritium's business and assets was already underway prior to our appointment and we will re-engage as a matter of urgency with interested parties and the broader market larger to seek long-term capital.”
Tritium was founded in 2001 in Brisbane as an engineering consultancy and in 2013 introduced the first DC fast charger.
By 2020, it had become the leading supplier of DC chargers with a 15% global market share and the backing of coal barons Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery.
The following year saw the successful listing of Nasdaq stock in 2021, featuring Tritium valued at $2 billion.
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Tritium facility in Brisbane
It signed an agreement in January 2023 to provide BP with fast chargersand Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the company a local example of innovation and success that October.
But in November 2023, it announced it would close its Brisbane facility to consolidate production activities at the Lebanon, Tennessee plant in the US.
They said the move is in line with their plan to be profitable by 2024, but at this point, their stock price is trending downward.
One investor, Brian Flannery, said Australian financial magazine by the time the company closed the plant it was too late.
“The current directors have let things go too far and have seen profits disappear,” Mr Flannery said. AFR.
“They should have accepted and moved to the US sooner and kept R&D going [research and development] center in Brisbane.
“I think they need to find a big backer to keep it a secret. I think keeping it private is the only option. I hope someone takes them over.”
According to reports, he sold 5% of its shares Join the company in February 2024.
Tritium received a shortfall notice from Nasdaq in October 2023 stating that its common stock offer price had closed below $1 per share for the previous 30 consecutive days.
In March 2024, the company received a delisting decision from Nasdaq because its common stock had a closing price of $0.10 or less for 10 consecutive trading days.
Tritium then performed a reverse stock split, with each 200 hundred shares merged into one. The company then received notice from Nasdaq that it did not meet the required number of publicly held shares to continue its listing.
Efforts to secure outside funding from the state and federal governments appear to have been unsuccessful.
Former Tritium employee said Car expert this early yearThe company, which spoke on condition of anonymity, suffered from poor management, while its products were unreliable.
“There are a lot of design flaws [in the chargers] that has been largely ignored. People at the top refused to make the necessary changes,” said one former employee. Car expert.
“I loved the company and the career development opportunities that awaited me, but soon I began to notice that the company was losing its appeal due to poor management.
“No one wants to take responsibility when something goes wrong and just play the blame game. Problems never get resolved because of that.”
THAN: Electric car charger 'flawed' and faulty – former Tritium employee
