Rugged mobility specialist Tough Corp has gone into voluntary liquidation and shut down its Sydney headquarters and multiple global offices.
Tough Corp went into liquidation and receivership last month after appointing chartered accountants at Lawler Partners as joint liquidators and PKF Australia as receiver on June 4.
ASIC documents sighted by CRN reveal the company owes 77 creditors over $561,000, with creditors at the time of writing having submitted claims for around $270,000.
Proceedings are expected to wrap in the next three months.
Tough Corp director Francis Bryant blamed the company's decline on falling sales, high staffing overheads and court costs associated with legal cases brought against the company. A failed attempt to sell the business was also cited as contributing to the company's demise.
At the time of writing, Tough Corp will be forced to fork out $22,000 in renumeration to its liquidators.
Phone lines to Tough Corp’s five global offices have been disconnected and attempts by CRN to contact the distributor via email have not been answered.
The mobility solutions provider had offices in the US, UK, Europe and Asia, including its Sydney headquarters.
Its creditors include the likes of Telstra, the ATO, Energy Australia, the Department of Fair Trading and LaCie Australia.
Also included in that list are global distributor Synnex and rugged mobility vendor Getac. Today the companies announced the signing of a new distribution partnership, a move which coincided with Getac's decision to end its long-term relationship with the beleagured Tough Corp.
Synnex is owed just under $5000 by Tough Corp, while Getac has put in a claim for just over $4000.
Synnex product director Darren Tan said his company had appointed two Getac specialists within Synnex to work with resellers alongside warehouses and service centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Synnex has signed up almost 15 new reseller partners to retail Getac’s product range, including the likes of SPX Solutions and Touch Star. Current partners including Datacom, Data#3 and Ethan Group will also sell Getac’s ruggedised mobility line.
Getac will feature in Synnex’s upcoming Australia-wide Alliance roadshow. The show starts next week in Perth and will travel across Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Getac targets the defense, mining and utility sectors in Australia and New Zealand. The company operates predominantly out of its Taiwan office.