Australia’s last specialised glass maker to close | Australian Markets

Australia’s final maker of architectural glass might be closed with the loss of up to 250 jobs after a failed public sale by directors.

Oceania Glass was put into the fingers of insolvency specialists from Grant Thornton three weeks in the past after personal equity Crescent Capital gave up on attempting to show across the Melbourne-based business within the face of cheaper Asian glass imports.

Grant Thornton’s directors on Thursday mentioned it had been unable to seek out a purchaser for the business “and regretfully glass manufacturing at the company’s Dandenong factory will cease shortly”.

Some 56 employees on the manufacturing facility have been made redundant, with one other 95 job losses anticipated over the approaching weeks as Oceania’s float line and manufacturing facility is wound down.

The group’s distribution centre in Dandenong will proceed to operate whereas Grant Thornton explores a sale of the national distribution community with events.

“We wish to extend our thanks to the employees of Oceania Glass for their patience and co-operation during this difficult time as we begin the process of ceasing manufacturing operations at the Dandenong factory,” joint administrator Lisa Gibb mentioned.

“We acknowledge this latest outcome is stressful for employees and their families and are providing support services to those affected,” she mentioned.

The shuttering is a blow to the struggling construction sector and Australia’s manufacturing industry, which have been battered by plant closures and the relocation of manufacturing to cheaper offshore websites.

The failure is claimed to have been influenced by a delay by Australia’s Anti-Dumping Fee in reinstating tariffs on imported glass that had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oceania Glass’ Dandenong manufacturing facility turned out float, coated and laminated glass merchandise, dispatching them across the nation from distribution centres within the Victorian capital, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth to be used in business and residential buildings as doorways, balustrades and shopfronts, and in bus and practice home windows.

“We have a proud heritage serving Australia, having sold our very first glass in 1856 and are the only architectural glass maker in Australasia,” the company says on its web site.

“Our glass is featured in many of Australia’s most iconic buildings, including the Australian Parliament House.”

Crescent Capital picked up the business as half of its buy of Viridian Glass from CSR in 2018.

Oceania’s final financial outcomes, for the 12 months to March 31, 2024, show it misplaced $1.2 million after a revenue of $6.2m for the 12 months earlier, on diminished gross sales of $182.7m. A be aware to traders within the Crescent fund that owns Oceania mentioned it was not viable with out tariffs.