POS distie's debts measured in the millions

Mecari, the national point-of-sale and data capture distributor formerly known as POS POS, could have millions owing to unsecured creditors.

The company's ledger – which was provided as part of the Report as to Affairs (RATA) submitted by Mecari chief executive Daniel Danielli to receiver Michael Dullaway of Pearce & Heers Insolvency Accountants – shows that Mecari owed $3.7 million to unsecured creditors in early January.

It is understood that these preliminary figures may change as the liquidator's investigations continue.

The company's troubles looks to have set in some time ago, with a significant portion of debts 90 to 120 days old.

Mecari’s largest unsecured creditor, point-of-sale vendor Zebra Technology, was owed approximately $2.1 million at the date of the ledger, with a significant portion of that debt over 120 days old.

Mecari is estimated to have up to $1.9 million in realisable assets, while its debtor book could be worth as much as $1.2 million.

Road to liquidation

Mecari was an award-winning distributor of Toshiba, Motorola Solutions and Epson, with offices in Victoria, NSW, Western Australia, Queensland and New Zealand.

Last July, the company rebranded from POS POS to Mecari Digital Distribution Services, saying it had sold a "significant equity stake" to another firm, Minerva Solutions.

Receiver Pearce & Heers was appointed on 5 January; then on 9 February, Ian Currie of BRI Ferrier was appointed liquidator after two companies, Balatador Pty Ltd and Danielli Pty Ltd, filed a winding-up notice against Mecari.

CRN spoke to the liquidator, who said it was too early to comment.

Mecari supplied a range of hardware, from Tysso touchscreen point-of-sale systems to Panasonic touchbook tablets, cordless and desktop Datalogic barcode scanners, Epson label and receipt printers, Kensington locks, Motorola wi-fi access points, tablets, antennas and handheld computers, and other brands.

CRN attempted to contact Mecari chief executive Daniel Danielli but did not receive a response.