ONE of Perth’s largest home-grown car and equipment rental agencies, Apex Car Rentals, has been put into liquidation owing creditors more than $8 million.
The business, which was operated for about 20 years by Peter Radosevich, is now being liquidated by Judge Constable after previously being placed in the hands of receiver manager Taylor Woodings by the National Australia Bank.
Other creditors include BankWest, Orix, Westpac, St George Bank, CBFC and Esanda.
Employee entitlements add up to nearly $400,000.
The business had 378 vehicles that were subject to hire-purchase agreements. Those have been returned to the financiers providing those agreements and will be sold.
There are doubts about whether those companies will receive full value on the vehicles given the number to be disposed of and the potential glut of second-hand cars in the market.
Apex also had three sites around the CBD. One has been sold and another is up for auction soon.
There are also some architectural antiques with an estimated value of $90,000.
According to the report to creditors provided by administrator turned liquidator, Judge Constable partner Kevin Judge, Apex Car Rentals employed a convoluted structure of eight companies – Apex Rentals Pty Ltd, Anovoy Pty Ltd, Infinity Nominees Pty Ltd, Bewick Holdings Pty Ltd, Auswest Nominees Pty Ltd, Paradon Holdings Pty Ltd, Phidias Pty Ltd and Dawnbridge Pty Ltd.
Of those, his report shows, only two – Anovoy and Infinity – had bank accounts yet the others all held varying degrees of assets.
Mr Judge said the administration had been prompted by the Australian Tax Office, which was seeking nearly $1.2 million.
He said the company’s convoluted structure, along with a lack of capital, an industry slowdown sparked by the attacks on the US on September 11 2001 and a failure to remit tax to the ATO, were some of the reasons he had discovered for the company’s demise.
It is understood the Apex group was trading with an annual turnover of around $7 million until about two years ago.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show a company Apex Mining Pty Ltd that also has Mr Radosevich as a director.
Mr Judge said Apex Mining was currently separate from the liquidation.
“Part of our investigation is to see if that company owes money to any of the companies in liquidation,” he said. “If it does, I’ll be pursuing that.”
NAB is seeking about $2.4 million and has recently recovered $825,000 of that through the sale of one of the properties the company owned.
Another property, in Redcliffe, is valued at about $2.6 million and will be offered for sale by auction soon.
WA Business News was unable to contact Mr Radosevich for comment.
