KPMG voluntary administrators appointed at Salt Lake Potash amid ASIC, creditor dispute

Martin Jones and Hayden White of KPMG were appointed administrators of Salt Lake Potash Limited and its related entities on 20 October 2021 under section 436A of the Corporations Act 2001, a role that sits amid a dispute involving the corporate regulator and creditor actions that saw KordaMentha named as receiver and manager on the same date. Salt Lake Potash directors declared the company insolvent and creditors moved to change the enforcement architecture while KPMG continued to list “Receiver and Managers: 20 October 2021 to current” across the group.

The administration covered multiple companies, including Salt Lake Potash Limited (SO4) ACN 117 085 748, Australia Salt Lake Potash Pty Ltd (ASLP) ACN 164 369 420 and Piper Preston Pty Ltd (PP) ACN 142 962 409, plus related development and holding entities with ACNs recorded in the administrators’ notices. Tom Birch was also appointed an administrator on 20 October 2021 and resigned from that role on 31 January 2022, leaving Jones and White listed as the company’s voluntary administrators.

Creditors resolved separate outcomes for some group companies. Second meetings of creditors for Piper Preston Pty Ltd and Australia Salt Lake Potash Pty Ltd were held at KPMG’s Perth office, Level 8, 235 St Georges Terrace, on Thursday 29 September 2022 at 10:30am. At those meetings creditors resolved that PP and ASLP should enter the proposed Deed of Company Arrangement, with the DOCA effective from 30 September 2022 and recorded as current in the administrators’ notices.

The creditor picture includes a major public finance exposure. One creditor identified in reporting held a US$47 million claim, or about $65 million, against Salt Lake Potash. That creditor figure sits at the centre of why receivership and administration choices mattered to voting creditors and to public-interest stakeholders.

Separately, Dermott McVeigh of Avior Consulting has been appointed special-purpose administrator to Salt Lake Potash Ltd by the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Avior set out McVeigh’s role as “to investigate certain aspects of the company’s collapse and prepare a report for creditors detailing the results of the investigation and whether in Mr McVeigh’s opinion, claims exist against certain third parties.” Avior also said, “We have commenced our investigation and are currently working with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in respect of offences that may have been committed.” The firm added, “We anticipate that further information will be provided to creditors by the company’s voluntary administrators (Mr Martin Jones and Mr Hayden White of KPMG) in due course.”

KPMG’s administrator notices list ongoing receiver and manager status for the group from 20 October 2021 to current, while creditor action named a separate receiver and manager appointment on that same date. The chronology of overlapping appointments on 20 October is recorded in the notices and reporting, but the public documents do not set out a minute-by-minute sequence for that day.

KPMG has provided a contact for enquiries: Jonah Hays, saltlakepotash@kpmg.com.au, P: +61 8 9263 7496, F: +61 8 9263 7129. Next steps for creditors now include McVeigh’s investigation and the administrators’ further communications to creditors as promised by Avior.