With receivers unable to sell Ticket Rocket assets unsecured creditors unlikely to get payout

Receivers attempting to generate value from the assets of defunct ticket company Ticket Rocket​ are reportedly having little luck in selling the company’s ticket platform software code.

Believed to be the one asset of value left to sell, receiver have been unable to generate buyer interest.

As a result, and with the company’s accounts reported to be in a “terrible state”, the prospect of a payout for unsecured creditors is now getting less likely.

Fortress Information Systems, trading as Ticket Rocket​​ and previously known as TicketDirect​​, was placed into receivership and liquidation in 2020, with associated companies Dash Group and Dash Tickets New Zealand were also placed in receivership.

As reported by New Zealand website Stuff, the company’s troubles first came to light after events were cancelled or postponed amid the Coronavirus lockdown in April and May 2020, and requests for refunds surged.

Palmerston North City Council successfully had $676,000 of Fortress' funds frozen in June 2020 over fears money owed from large events would not be paid.

The company tried to have the freezing order suppressed, but a High Court judge said it was in the public interest for it to be out in the open.

A flood of stories of theatre companies, sports teams and the Royal New Zealand Ballet having issues with Ticket Rocket rolled into the receiverships and liquidation.

Documents filed to the Companies Office in November 2020 showed the Fortress and Dash collective owed more than $9 million.

Bank of New Zealand subsequently, and successfully, applied to the High Court to get Ticket Rocket owner Matthew Davey to pay $3.85 million due to guarantees he made in relation to Ticket Rocket.

The Bank then applied to have bankruptcy proceedings initiated, something it needed High Court permission for as Davey had relocated overseas, reportedly living in Sydney.

According to documents uploaded to New Zealand’s Companies Office in May, the receivers advised “despite our best efforts with interested parties, no offers were received.”

The companies’ books have also been an issue for receivers, both in terms of completeness and accuracy with a number of intercompany loans to consider.

The companies still owed Bank of New Zealand $5.5 million, while people owed money for tickets were collectively out of pocket by $1.64 million.

There was $535,000 held on trust when Ticket Rocket went under, which receivers have since distributed.

Some of the receivers' work has been left out of their reports on the basis revealing it could prejudice their ability to fetch the best price possible for assets.

As of last month, Davey did not show up on insolvency registers in New Zealand or Australia, where he was living at the time Bank of New Zealand got its High Court application accepted.

Images: Ticket Rocket’s former office in Dunedin (top) and Matt Davey (below).