David Kirk's Bailador cops $12.4m hit on social media investment

Former All Black David Kirk. Photo / File

Former All Blacks captain David Kirk's Bailador Investments is set to take a $12.4m hit on its investment in social media start-up Stackla.

In an ASX filing yesterday, Bailador said it had been forced to write off the value of its investment to zero after Stackla failed to regain access to Facebook and Instagram's platforms.

Stackla had sued Facebook, claiming the social media giant's decision to block Stackla's access to Facebook and Instagram was just a face-saving exercise following Facebook's Cambridge Analytica fiasco, unfairly killing Stackla's business, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Stackla is a media aggregator that compiles user-generated content in social networking sites for marketing purposes.

Bailador, which is run by Kirk, told investors that its bid for a temporary restraining order (TRO) was unsuccessful.

"It is understood that in today's hearing in the Northern District Court of California, the US District Chief Judge denied Stackla's motion for a TRO but permitted the company to file a motion for a preliminary injunction and suggested the parties meet commercially to resolve the issue," it said in a statement.

"As a result of the above court ruling, and Stackla continuing to have no access to the Facebook and Instagram platforms for the time being, Bailador has made the decision to write down the value of its investment in Stackla to $nil."

Stackla's other investors include venture capital firm Rampersand and a consortium led by former Yahoo! And Ninemsn executive Tony Faure.

While a blow to Bailador, the investment company has other irons in the fire - including a 20 per cent stake in Kiwi company Straker Technologies, which listed on the ASX last October following a A$21 million IPO.

Straker shares first listed at A$1.51 and recently traded at A$1.79.

In May, Straker posted a full-year revenue and adjusted earnings figures that nudged ahead of its prospectus forecast.