Administrators overseeing the collapse of Sydney developer Bathla Group have warned that the company could begin winding down on Tuesday afternoon unless private lenders provide emergency funding within hours.
Stephen Longley, of Teneo, said the group’s financial position was “very dire” and that hopes of securing a comprehensive rescue for its 45 construction projects were fading.
“We’ve had intensive discussions with lenders, but I don’t think we’re going to get enough funding in place to be able to finish those 45 projects,” Mr Longley told the Today programme. “We need to put together a minimum viable structure to deliver the projects.”
Bathla entered voluntary administration on August 25 with debts of more than A$3.3 billion. Teneo had initially sought A$20 million by Thursday to cover eight weeks of unpaid wages and keep near-complete developments moving, but brought the deadline forward after talks with lenders on Monday night.
Mr Longley said the money was needed to cover the group’s head-office operations, including about 350 employees considered essential to completing the projects, as well as the wider costs of supporting construction sites.
“We’ll start planning at the end of the day for the wind down of the business, and we’ll be meeting with staff,” he said. “Payroll is due on Thursday. As administrators, we’re personally liable for paying that payroll, even if a company doesn’t have any money, which it doesn’t.”
NSW Treasurer urges private lenders to intervene
The warning prompted NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey to call on the private credit firms that financed Bathla to shoulder responsibility for finding a solution, rather than seeking taxpayer support.
“The first obligation belongs to the private credit firms,” Mr Mookhey said during a trade visit to New Delhi. “These are some of the most sophisticated lenders in the Australian economy. They took the risk. The onus is on them to step up and support the administrators.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the government was monitoring the potential impact on contractors and other builders, but defended its decision not to provide a public bailout. He said taxpayers should not be asked to extend tens of millions of dollars in credit without a clear understanding of how Bathla had reached its position or what the state’s exposure would be.
“I think the worst-case scenario would have been we extended a line of credit, we gave them tens of millions of dollars, and then the inevitable happened in a couple of weeks’ time,” Mr Minns said.
Some private lenders have already taken control of individual Bathla sites. At the company’s major apartment project in Pemulwuy, west of Parramatta, private equity group PAG told subcontractors it would fund the work needed to complete the development.
But contractors working across several Bathla sites said they remained uncertain about whether they would be paid. One Pemulwuy foreman, who gave his name as Charbel, said administrators had assured him that the apartment project would be finished, but he had received no such certainty about other developments.
“I have four kids, I have staff to pay … I have contractors to pay, and we don’t know,” he said. “No one can guarantee our money. If we do any work, for any business, we’re always losing.”
The administration involves hundreds of companies linked to Bathla’s corporate structure. The NSW Supreme Court has heard that the group had about 542 entities in administration, while its broader development pipeline included roughly 2,000 homes under construction and thousands more planned. ([abc.net.au](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-27/bathla-collapse-homes-contractors-administrators-frank-sartor/107079044?utm_source=openai))
The court was also told that the business could burn through about A$40 million between September and December if funding was secured, underlining the scale of the challenge facing Teneo. The first formal meeting of creditors is scheduled for Friday, September 4. ([abc.net.au](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-27/bathla-collapse-homes-contractors-administrators-frank-sartor/107079044?utm_source=openai))
