Telco's creditors fail to roll administrator

Communications provider IVNX has gone from administration into liquidation, while a group of creditors also attempted to oust the appointed administrator.

At the creditors' meeting last month, CR-X Pty Ltd moved a resolution to "remove Mr Jon Howarth and Mr Andrew Schwarz as administrators of IVNX" and appoint David Ross and Shannon Thomson of Hall Chadwick in their place.

[Related: IVNX and iTelecom sink into administration]

Although CR-X is a relatively minor creditor with just $8,800 owed by IVNX, the resolution attracted votes from four creditors worth $113,301. Nine creditors seeking recovery of $360,881 voted against the proposal.

IVNX owes over $821,041 in total to both trade creditors and former employees. Major trade creditors include Noah Consulting, with $107,563 owing, and training firm Learning Exponents, with $42,727 yet to be paid.

In the first days of administration, Howarth and Schwartz sold the assets of wholesale arm iTelecom to Sydney company Wireline. Wireline's sales director David Connolly told CRN at the time that iTelecom produced 97 percent of IVNX's revenue.

After that transaction and the creditors' meeting, IVNX went into liquidation on 11 February, with Howarth and Schwartz of AS Advisory continuing their involvement in the new role of liquidator.

Former chief financial officer Stephen Mason is recorded as having a large stake in the proceedings, attending the meeting on behalf of various creditors worth over $466,000, including his own self-managed superannuation fund.

CRN attempted to contact AS Advisory, Mason and CR-X but had not received a response at the time of writing. Noah Consulting and Learning Exponents were also contacted but could not be reached.

As well as Mason, former chief executive Thomas Derum, his replacement Matt Olaes, and chief information officer Bruno Giger are listed as creditors.

IVNX's consumer operation IVNO made headlines last year after launching the CoMobile prepaid service with university campus retailer The Co-op as reseller. Calls to CoMobile's support number now divert to voicemail.

The IVNX group employed 60 staff in Melbourne, Sydney, Manila, Philippines, Hyderabad, India and Dalian, China.

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