Vaughan Strawbridge, Joseph Hansell and Kathryn Evans of FTI Consulting were engaged as Voluntary Administrators of Sara Lee, a leader in Australia's frozen desserts and bakery sector. Financial and operational challenges including an unsustainable capital structure, rising raw material costs, ongoing supply chain disruptions, outdated equipment and supplier challenges had created an environment which put Sara Lee and its more than 200 employees at risk.
Our Impact
- Operations at Sara Lee's Lisarow, New South Wales facility continued uninterrupted during the nearly four-month Voluntary Administration process while the Voluntary Administrators restructured the business and workforce.
- More than 200 jobs at the Lisarow facility were preserved, with employee entitlements remaining in full and those who resigned or were terminated receiving full payouts.
- Secured creditors received returns ranging from 35 to 100 cents to the dollar, while more than AU$4 million of unsecured creditor claims were paid to the Personal Property Securities Register ("PPSR") and creditors critical to the continued trading of the business, thereby helping Sara Lee survive and provide suppliers with an ongoing revenue stream.
Our Role
- The Voluntary Administrators stabilised operations and prioritised communication with employees, unions, suppliers and customers.
- Simultaneously, we launched a campaign to sell or recapitalise the business while working with Sara Lee staff to manage daily operations and prepare realistic cashflow forecasts that were better matched to operational requirements.
- Our professionals engaged in complex negotiations that included Sara Lee's intellectual property in the sale process, ensuring a going concern sale of the business was achieved.
- In January 2024, FTI Consulting reached an agreement on sale terms with the CJ Quinn Group, successfully exiting external administration on 12 February 2024.
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