Entities connected to a Central Coast-based investment firm that tried and failed to secure control of real estate company The Agency (ASX: AU1) has today filed papers with the corporate regulator to be wound up.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published notices of intentions to wind up numerous companies linked to Mitchell Atkins and Magnolia Capital, which has been in liquidation since November alongside Magnolia Credit.
Mitchell Atkins has been in contact with Business News Australia previously, but both his phone and email were inactive when we attempted to reach-out for comment in response to the latest news.
Atkins was involved in a bitter dispute with The Agency, where he had left the board in 2020 but retained a stake with Magnolia as the investment vehicle until that was sold in May 2021.
In 2021, a Magnolia-affiliated entity called MCL 105 Pty Ltd attempted to appoint BDO as administrators to the The Agency over alleged debts of $385,000, but that procedure was quashed by a West Australian Federal Court ruling. It was around that time that Atkins pulled out of an attempted takeover of the company.
In February of that year, The Agency's managing director Paul Niardone alleged the tactics of Magnolia Capital throughout the ordeal were "baseless" and "distractionary".
In August last year, The Australian reported Atkins was facing lawsuits from Melbourne businessman David Koadlow over a $9.5 million jointly-owned investment fund, as well as investor Dong Zhang.
The companies to be wound up include Magnolia Lending Pty Ltd, Magnolia Capital Holdings Pty Ltd, Magnolia Project Marketing Pty Ltd, Magnolia Property Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Magnolia Credit Holdings Pty Ltd, Magnolia Mortgages Pty Ltd, Magnolia Debt Warehouse No. 2 Pty Ltd, and Magnolia Funding Pty Ltd.
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