Adelaide manufacturer Trident Tooling collapses

Adelaide car parts manufacturer Trident Tooling and associated company Trident Plastics have been placed in receivership after a major customer failed to pay its bill. The company, which makes parts for GM Holden, Mitsubishi and Ford, has been struggling for some time. According to a report in Business Spectator, Trident claims it is owed $3.4 million by Ford.

The companies employ around 150 people.

Trident announced it was placing itself in voluntary administration late yesterday, with John Morgan of Rodgers Reidy appointed as administrator. He immediately set about investigating the company’s financial affairs and talking to major stakeholders about restructuring the group.

“The process goes for about a month and the outcome that we’re looking for is to try and reconstruct the business so it can continue to trade and, for us to be able to do that, we need to speak to all the major stakeholders,” Morgan told the ABC last night.

But the company’s major lender NAB subsequently stepped in last night and appointed its own receivers at Trident Tooling, John Hart and David Kidman of Ferrier Hodgson. The receivers are yet to comment.

A third company related to Trident, the Melbourne-based Active Plastic Industries, was placed in voluntary liquidation last week.