Liquidation for Mirrabooka ice rink

The operator of Mirrabooka’s Xtreme Ice Arena, Roselink Enterprises, has entered court-ordered liquidation, after a legal dispute with a member of the wealthy Caratti family.

The rink has been shut since late March, but the liquidation battle predates the COVID-19 crisis, with the case heard in the Supreme Court by Master Craig Sanderson in December.

Roselink was trustee for the Ice Nemesis Unit Trust, which owned the assets of Xtreme Ice Arena, excluding the rink itself.

David Spencer of Business & Insolvency Solutions was appointed liquidator.

It is understood John Caratti owned units in the trust through Bellaire Holdings, which was the plaintiff in the liquidation, but the company was not a creditor.

The family has property interests worth more than $500 million, it has been reported.

Bellaire is the landlord for the nearby Perth Ice Arena in Malaga, but not landlord of Mirrabooka.

It is understood the company was given the units in the Ice Nemesis trust (Mirrabooka) as payment for a debt owed by the previous operators of Ice Arena in Malaga, which had also invested in the Mirrabooka operation.

Roselink director Marie Lowick told Business News that Ice Nemesis and Bellaire had been locked in legal disputes since.

“We don’t have the money to keep fighting,” Ms Lowick said.

“We were in it for the kids, the sport, the community and the love of skating.”

She said the landlord at Mirrabooka had been very supportive.

A big challenge in recent years had been that the rink was struck by lightning twice, which damaged the plant and led to prolonged shutdowns which impacted cash flow.

“I’m very passionate about (ice) sports,” Ms Lowick said.

“If we were funded I’d jump at the chance to do it again.

“For the love of it, my family is set to lose a lot of money… but I wouldn’t do anything different.

“We’ve had two kids go to the Olympics trained from our facility.

“We’ve had our speed skaters go to worlds.

“I wouldn’t change any of that.”

At the time of the hearing, Roselink owed $315,621 to the Australian Taxation Office and $221,732 to its landlord.

All up, there were nine creditors with which Roselink had payment plans for debts, and about 20 other smaller creditors.

But Master Sanderson’s decision, handed down last week, was that the business was insolvent and should be wound up.

“Whatever might be the arrangements with the various creditors it is clear these undertakings are not binding,” he said.

“If all or any one of these creditors had a change of heart they could demand repayment immediately and the defendant could not resist the claim. 

“Really that is the key to this action. 

“The defendant is unable to meet its debts as and when they fall due. 

“It is not able to meet its commitments to the Australian Taxation Office, those commitments being due now. 

“It is not able to meet its commitments to its creditors.”

The decision shows Xtreme was only profitable once in the preceding six financial years.

There were about $400,000 of losses in that period, offset by a $22,153 profit in 2017.

The Caratti family had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.