Yowie’s largest shareholder Keybridge Capital appointed administrators on Monday (10 February), days after the Australia-based confectionery business demanded a loan repayment.
In a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 9 February, investment firm Keybridge said Yowie had called for the repayment of the outstanding loan balance of A$4.6m ($2.9m) by the close of play on 7 February.
Melbourne-based Keybridge said the three-year loan facility with Yowie, for just over A$80m, was formalised last May.
In its own ASX filing on 10 February, Perth-headquartered Yowie confirmed its repayment demands.
“The company will work with the voluntary administrator to ensure full recovery of the loans balance outstanding, along with accrued interest,” Yowie said.
“The company is now also considering a range of capital solutions given the likely delays in the recovery of the loan funds because of the administration process.”
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By GlobalDataYowie markets its namesake confectionery products in Australia and the US to “promote learning, understanding and engagement with the natural world”, featuring Yowie characters such as Rumble and Squish. It outsources production and distribution.
Keybridge, which notified the ASX on Monday that it had appointed Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants as the voluntary administrator, holds 78.359% of Yowie, built up over a number of years.
The investor held 23% of Yowie’s stock back in 2020 before it launched a takeover approach in December 2023, when Keybridge was already the largest shareholder.
A deal was finalised in December, whereby Keybridge took its holding to 78.359%. At the same time, Nicholas Bolton, a managing director at the investment firm, was appointed as CEO of Yowie.
Bolton replaced Mark Schuessler, who stepped down as CEO and managing director in July 2023.
Keybridge cited opposition to new fund raising from its own investor, publicly-listed WAM Active, for its decision to call in administrators.
WAM had repeatedly gone through Australia’s courts to prevent Keybridge from securing new finance.
In its administration notice on 10 February, Keybridge said it had been attempting to raise new funds since October last year. WAM’s latest attempt to block new financing arrangements was suspended by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on Monday.
A decision is now not likely until March, Keybridge added.
Meanwhile, Yowie reported its second-quarter fiscal 2025 sales numbers in January, figures that are issued in US dollars rather than the Australian currency.
Revenue dipped to $3m from $3.2m a year earlier, led by a 33% decline in the US to $2.1m. Sales in Australia edged up to $0.9m from $0.1m.
In the previous financial year to 30 June 2024, Yowie delivered an 11% increase in sales to $14.7m. Net losses widened to $2.6m from $0.1m.
Yowie acquired the “assets” in 2023 of Australia-based chocolate maker Ernest Hillier, which went into voluntary administration in June that year.
