GrabOne in liquidation owing creditors more than $16.5 million

Global Marketplace New Zealand, which operates the GrabOne business in New Zealand, went into liquidation last week.

Failed daily deal website GrabOne owes creditors more than $16.5 million, according to the first liquidator’s report.

Global Marketplace New Zealand Limited, which operated GrabOne, went into liquidation last week due to “funding constraints”.

The move left both businesses and customers holding onto vouchers out of pocket.

But the first liquidator’s report also reveals Inland Revenue and staff are among those owed money.

Liquidators Daniel Stoneman and Neale Jackson of Calibre Partners said most of the money owed is $9.2m to a related party creditor.

Preferential creditors are owed $518,531, which includes employee entitlements of $365,278 and $153,253 owing to Inland Revenue.

Unsecured creditors – which includes trade creditors, customers with vouchers unable to be redeemed and merchants who honoured GrabOne vouchers but have not been paid – are owed $3.8m.

The company also has a deferred tax liability of $2.9m.

The liquidators estimated the company has assets of $803,322, leaving a substantial shortfall for creditors.

Stoneman and Jackson said they were commencing an immediate sales process for the company’s business and assets.

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), publishers of the New Zealand Herald, sold GrabOne in 2021 to Global Marketplace New Zealand for $17.5m.

GrabOne was founded in 2010 as a 50/50 venture between IdeaHQ - controlled by entrepreneur Shane Bradley - and then Herald publisher APN.

APN progressively bought out Bradley’s stake, taking full control in 2013 in a deal worth up to $12.2m.

‘A dated concept’

Chris Wilkinson, retail expert and managing director of First Retail Group, told the Herald last week the GrabOne model had become “a dated concept”.

“There was a lot of euphoria around that type of model around a decade ago.

“It’s almost like the catalogue model of digital marketing, where catalogues were superseded by e-commerce. It’s a legacy digital marketing model.”

Wilkinson said a decade ago deal websites tended to be nationwide models but over time became more localised.

“The deals were always typically good, often to help businesses get some cashflow and to reach new markets.

“Particularly as time went on, they became a very localised response, and it really was down to smaller businesses who needed a boost and were prepared to cut the prices.”

Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based business reporter. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics such as retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.

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