Pie Face creditors voted to save the struggling bakery franchise from liquidation late last year - but now the company's administrator, Jirsch Sutherland, is in the spotlight.
Pie Face emerged from voluntary administration late last year after creditors voted to support a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) that would pay them 14 cents in the dollar to avoid liquidation.
Stan Gordon, chief executive of the Franchised Food Company has since criticised the administration process.
Gordon told SME news site SmartCompany that his offer to purchase Pie Face went unanswered, and he is calling for an inquiry into how the administration was managed.
According to SmartCompany, the founder of pizza chain Eagle Boys, Tom Potter, also claims that Jirsch Sutherland failed to follow up on his bid.
The administrator has, in response, said it did not receive one “bona fide” offer to buy the company.
Since the DOCA, control of the company has been handed to the new board, former Pie Face directors John Nicolis and Wayne Homschek, Pie Face co-founder and a former Wall Street banker. Former federal Liberal MP Andrew Thomson was appointed chairman.
Bruce Wookey from investment fund manager TCA Global is also be on the board, with the fund expected to help with the recapitalisation of Pie Face through a capital raising of up to $10 million in the US.
Woolworths is also trialling the sale of frozen Pie Face pies at its stores.
Around 20 Pie Face outlets have been closed since the company entered voluntary administration late last year, and around 130 staff have been laid off.
