Workers leave Probuild sites as construction giant faces collapse

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Deloitte’s appointment could be finalised as soon as Thursday.

“All tradies have packed up now from all of Probuild’s jobs,” an industry source said.

“Everyone in the commercial construction industry is talking about it today. It’s been a long time since a major builder’s gone under.”

Probuild runs a far larger operation than wealthy property developer Daniel Grollo, whose Grocon group was put into administration last year, and its demise would be felt industry-wide.

Multiple Grollo companies narrowly avoided liquidation after creditors agreed to a deed of company arrangement.

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In January last year, a mooted $300 million buy-out of Probuild by one of China’s largest construction companies failed at the last minute after the Commonwealth’s Foreign Investment Review Board intervened citing national security concerns.

Probuild executive chairman Simon Gray was critical of the decision at the time.

“It’s more politics than it is anything else,” Mr Gray told the Australian Financial Review.

“No one can give us real reason why we’re a national security risk. It’s a joke.”

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