Jul 12, 2026 – 4.40pmThe board of Ross Garnaut’s Zen Energy had been operating under secretive safe harbour provisions for months when it called in McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators on July 3.In a move that further underscores the extent of its financial troubles as it scrambled to find a white knight buyer, Street Talk can reveal Zen Energy late last year hired restructuring firm KordaMentha to provide safe harbour advice for directors, before its lenders in January began writing down their positions in expectations of a collapse.Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?
Garnaut’s Zen Energy sought safe harbour protections before collapse
In a move that further underscores the extent of its financial troubles, Zen Energy late last year hired restructuring firm KordaMentha to provide safe harbour advice for directors.
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