Ray Petrakis
Corporate collapses & insolvency
Based in Melbourne
Ray spent two decades covering administrations, receiverships and the pointy end of corporate failure before joining Defamer. He reads administrators' reports for fun and trusts a creditors' schedule over any press release.
23 published articles · most recent August 2, 2026
Ray spent two decades covering administrations, receiverships and the pointy end of corporate failure before joining Defamer. He reads administrators' reports for fun and trusts a creditors' schedule over any press release.
Articles by Ray Petrakis
Virgin Australia administration: how 2020 saved the airlineThe Virgin Australia administration of April 2020 was the biggest airline failure since Ansett. Here is how Bain Capital ended up owning the carrier.
Slater & Gordon and the Quindell deal that nearly ended itThe Quindell deal turned Slater & Gordon from a pioneering listed law firm into a case study in acquisition-led corporate collapse. Here is how it unfolded.
MFS/Octaviar: the Gold Coast collapse that unravelled a $2.5bn empireHow MFS Limited grew into a sprawling Gold Coast financial empire, then collapsed in 2008 into one of Australia's longest-running insolvency sagas.
Pyramid Building Society: the Geelong collapse a fuel levy had to fixHow a Geelong building society's 1990 collapse left 200,000 depositors exposed, and why Victorian motorists paid it off at the bowser for a decade.
Adelaide Steamship: John Spalvins' house of mirrorsAdelaide Steamship (Adsteam) built a cross-shareholding empire under John Spalvins, then the early-1990s recession exposed the gearing underneath it.
Centro Properties collapse: the debt and the court caseThe Centro Properties collapse came from short-term debt and a misclassified balance sheet, and produced a landmark Australian ruling on director duty.
Sons of Gwalia collapse and the shareholder rights rulingThe Sons of Gwalia collapse over gold hedging losses led to a High Court ruling letting misled shareholders rank as creditors until Parliament stepped in.
Bell Group litigation: Australia's longest corporate fightThe Bell Group litigation began with Alan Bond's 1991 collapse and ran for decades, pitting liquidators against banks across courts and parliaments.
Harris Scarfe: the accounting scandal that brought down a 150-year-old retailerHarris Scarfe traded through two world wars and the Depression before collapsing in 2001. The accounting fraud that accelerated its end took years of litigation to untangle.
Storm Financial: the advice firm that wiped out a generation of retireesHow a Townsville financial planning firm built a leveraged investment model that worked brilliantly in a bull market — and then destroyed thousands of ordinary Australian lives when the GFC arrived.
Compass Airlines: the low-cost challenger that crashed twiceIn the early 1990s, Compass Airlines twice tried to break the Ansett–Australian Airlines duopoly and twice ended in administration. Here's how it happened.
Dick Smith Electronics collapse: the float and the inventoryThe Dick Smith Electronics collapse left creditors short and raised questions about inventory accounting, supplier rebates and the mechanics of its float.
One.Tel collapse: how a telco burned through a billionThe One.Tel collapse in May 2001 left debts that ran past a billion dollars. Here is how Packer and Murdoch money, weak oversight and rapid spending met.
ABC Learning collapse: how Eddy Groves built and broke itThe ABC Learning collapse left 100,000 children facing lost places. How Eddy Groves built a listed childcare empire on debt and how it fell apart.
Timbercorp and Great Southern: the agribusiness MIS collapseTimbercorp and Great Southern sold tax-driven plantations and olive groves, then collapsed in 2009, leaving about 65,000 investors with loans.
The two-airline policy that shaped Australian aviationHow the two-airline policy shaped Australian aviation for four decades, from fixed fares and matched fleets to the deregulation that broke it.
Ansett's 2001 collapse: the job losses, stranded passengers and the entitlements fightWhen Ansett grounded its fleet in September 2001, roughly 16,000 workers lost their jobs overnight. What followed was one of Australia's messiest corporate wind-downs.
How Air New Zealand took full control of Ansett — and what it cost both of themAir New Zealand's acquisition of full ownership of Ansett Australia looked like a trans-Tasman masterstroke. It ended in one of the largest corporate collapses in Australian history.
Ansett Australia: the rise and fall of a national airlineAnsett Australia went from Reg Ansett's single plane in 1936 to administration in 2001. Here is how the national airline was built, sold and broken.
HIH collapse: how Australia's largest failure happenedThe HIH collapse wiped out billions in 2001. See what the Royal Commission found on governance, the FAI deal and the policyholders left without cover.
Opes Prime: how a stock-lending firm turned retail investors into unsecured creditors overnightIn March 2008, Opes Prime collapsed owing nearly $1 billion. The retail investors who thought they owned shares discovered they had signed them away. This is how it happened.
Allco Finance Group: the leasing empire GFC finished offAllco Finance Group collapsed in 2008 with debts in the billions. The related-party questions that followed were almost as complex as the structure itself.
Babcock & Brown: the gearing machine that couldn't survive the GFCBabcock & Brown was Australia's second-largest investment bank at its peak. Then the debt that built the empire became the thing that destroyed it.