In news that we’d expected to hear earlier, Australia’s original streaming service, Quickflix, has entered voluntary administration.
Though the service has lagged behind its streaming rivals for some time, Quickflix founder & CEO Stephen Langsford has laid the blame for the company’s downfall at Stan’s feet in its press release on the matter, stating that “the existence of redeemable preference shares held by Stan” were an “impediment to raising new capital.”
Quickflix appointed business management group Ferrier Hodgson as voluntary administrators of the company after it and Stan failed to come to terms on a restructure of $11,730,549 in redeemable preference shares held by Nine Entertainment Co, which were acquired from HBO for an undisclosed amount in 2014.
The administration will only affect the Australian side of Quickflix’s business, as its New Zealand side is operated through a subsidiary which continues to trade.
Caught in a Stan-glehold
According to Langsford, Nine and Stan’s reluctance to participate in any capital raisings to “assist Quickflix’s growth and its ability to raise capital from any source” has been impeded by the previously mentioned shares, acting as “a significant disincentive for new investors.”
“As these negotiations with Stan have not been successful and the majority of potential new funders have specified the restructure of the RPS as a condition of providing capital, the Company has no other realistic alternative but to appoint voluntary administrators,” said Langsford, who recently cut his salary to a measly $200,000 a year.
The decision did not come easy for Quickflix, having struggled to stay afloat for some time now – the company pleaded with its customers to buy shares in 2014, attempted to acquire a Chinese streaming company in August last year, and most recently, shuttered its Sydney office earlier this month.
Langsford also stated that Quickflix’s new administrators intend to continue with business as usual.
