Joseph Parker (left) with David Higgins in 2018. Photo / Photosport
Joseph Parker (left) with David Higgins in 2018. Photo / Photosport
Sports promoter David Higgins - best known for organising the Joseph Parker fights - has placed three of his subsidiary businesses into voluntary liquidation. It's business as usual for his main companies, including Duco Events.
Companies office records show Heath Gair of Palliser Insolvency was appointed liquidator of Duco Promotions,Mammoth Events and Zenith Events on Tuesday August 11.
Higgins said the Duco Events group had been founded in 2004 and over the past 16 years there has been a range of companies set up serving different purposes.
In recent years there was a major shareholding change with Melbourne based events specialist Rachael Carroll coming on board as his business partner and taking a 20 per cent stake.
Higgins said the three companies were always going to be wound up and his three other companies were still going as normal.
"I have still got seven staff."
He said the Covid-19 situation had been tough but it had also given him time to tidy up the business.
"I voluntarily did it. It's a normal tidying up of entities that aren't being used."
Duco's Dean Lonergan, left, and David Higgins with New Zealand Heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker, centre in 2017. Photo / Supplied. Lonergan left the company the same year. Photo / Photosport
Mammoth Events was the promoter for the 2012 Fight for Life event and the other, Zenith Events, had been used for the NRL Auckland Nines event, last held in 2018.
Duco Promotions previously had a Joseph Parker promotional contract for six years and that wound up last year around March last year.
Higgins said Joseph had since entered into a promotional contract in the UK and had hired Duco for management services.
The group now has three main entities still operating - Sports Advisory Management which has the Joseph Parker management contract.
Duco Touring - which invests in a series of music events and tours rolling out this Summer and Higgins said it was in the middle of planning a boxing event with Joseph Parker.
Duco Events which runs events in Christchurch and had consulting work in rugby league which was going ahead as normal.
Higgins said despite the tough economic situation he remained optimistic for his remaining businesses.
"We have a good pipeline of stuff. It is more delaying events rather than cancelling them. All the events we would have had this winter have been moved to Summer or next year.
"I remain optimistic."
Gair said Mammoth and Zenith were special purpose vehicles that had traded very little since the restructuring that the shareholders undertook a couple of years ago.
"They are both solvent companies and we don't anticipate there being any creditors for those two."
He said Duco Promotions was in the promotions and events industry which had been greatly effected by Covid.
"So from February until now and potentially a lot further it was looking like there was going to be minimal revenue for this company so my understanding is the company did not have any contracts it was promoting. So the director had a look and decided to wind it up."
Gair said as far as he was aware the only creditor was a contingent creditor that was the landlord for the lease of a property in Auckland.
"Hopefully this loss can be mitigated by the landlord getting a new tenant."
"Based on our understanding and initial review we don't believe there is likely to be any other creditors."
Records show Duco Promotions claimed $28,118.40 in the employer wage subsidy for four staff.
Higgins said he had had to let a couple of staff go but had managed to keep most of his team together after both staff and directors had accepted reduced pay.
He said he had used the downturn presented by Covid to undertake more planning looking at what to do with boxing over the next five years and where to take the music events business over the next three to five years.
"While it is tough now I would like to think we will come out of it in better shape."
