Deliveroo riders, staff, restaurants to share $19m payday

The parent company of Deliveroo Australia will pay creditors $19 million by the end of April as administrators finalise the failed food delivery business’ exit out of the Australian market.

Deliveroo Australia entered the market in 2015 but never turned a profit and failed to stay competitive, burning $120 million this year alone before collapsing in November. Its demise left 121 Australian office staff and more than 14,000 local riders out of work.

In a virtual meeting on Wednesday, creditors approved a proposal put forward by Deliveroo’s UK parent, Roofoods, that would see creditors receive 100 per cent of their claims. Eligible employees will receive 169 per cent of their entitlements and eligible riders will receive 342 per cent of their entitlements.

Employees, riders, and suppliers will see the majority of owed monies, totalling $9.5 million, paid by the end of January, while lower-priority restaurant partners, customers and other unsecured creditors will receive their share from a pool of $9.3 million by the end of April.

“Once these payments are made, all claims against Deliveroo Australia will be resolved and the creditors’ trust will be dissolved and wound up,” administrators KordaMentha said in a statement.

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Deliveroo Australia owes restaurant partners $1.83 million, while customers are owed $238,000 in pre-paid Deliveroo Plus subscriptions, unused credit and unused gift cards.

Meanwhile, landlords are owed $81,092 after the company fell behind on rent in its final months of operation, revealed a KordaMentha report prepared for creditors.

The $18.8 million payments and KordaMentha’s $1.6 million fees will be covered by Roofoods. The $2.6 billion London Stock Exchange-listed company admitted it was losing money from keeping the Australian arm operational, and also pulled out of Spain and the Netherlands earlier this year.