Guvera confirms local redundancies, downplays employee concerns about entitlements
Troubled music streaming service Guvera has confirmed it has made just under 30 local employees redundant in the fallout of the company this week placing two of its subsidiaries into voluntary administration following a decision by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to not list the company.
Guvera would not specify the number of redundancies but downplayed employee concerns about receiving entitlements, claiming a number of employees had been offered new positions with “related entities” as the company seeks new funding to survive.
“Employees of Guvera Services Pty Ltd were terminated on Monday, June 27,” said a Guvera spokesman. “A large portion of employees have been offered employment with another entity in order to continue servicing parent company Guvera Limited. Employee entitlements for terminated Guvera Services Pty Ltd employees will be managed by appointed administrator Deloitte.”
Of course they are downplaying the local redundancies but thanks for finally reporting on this. It wasn’t just the ‘international business’ that was affected. How can they continue to operate in Australia when Australian retrenched employees still don’t know if we are getting our entitlements or even being paid for the month of June. Not to mention super that is owing for the last 6 months. Disgusting!!
“All of this has happened before and will happen again”. The real purpose of Guvera is to make AMMA fat. They never cared about their employees or the product.
Another past employee
Past employee… Why don’t you go to the media , I am sure you could enlighten them and all of us disgruntled shareholders on mismanagement and hyped up promise making without delivering
The founder made a video about why everyone is wrong about Guvera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OSqZWyvz2Y
The guy is just nuts, always has been. Delusions of grandeur.
Claes is delusional. He has always been out there, but now he is scaring me. Guvera is now a cutting-edge ad platform? Don’t you need users, don’t you need to provide some reach and create something not just listeners, but BRANDS want – something compelling? Also, don’t you need a commercial/sales team to take this mind-blowing opportunity to clients? Didn’t you just fire all of them? Yep, you’re a genius…
Well Claes Loberg seems to like spending other peoples money….
Consistent messaging here “..not in the streaming business…… Guvera is a streaming business….adding new stuff, about to do stuff in TV and film….” Wow.
Easy to run around with no vision or direction and no idea how to build a sustainable model whilst blowing copious amounts of other peoples money. Looks like this fool and his flash as rats with gold teeth mates have finally been found out.
…sue them. They should be used to it by now. The offered us shares, that’s even funnier now than last year.
I cannot believe that what Guvera has done is even remotely acceptable to investors, government officials – or the media. Over 50 people were made redundant. Terminated in a single day, without any guarantee that they will be paid for June – and with virtually no hope whatsoever that they will finally (after nine+ months) receive their superannuation and/or entitlements. Yet, Guvera continues to beg, borrow and steal from investors to keep the sick dream alive – instead of making sure the people recently terminated are taken care of. Someone needs to step in and end this nightmare.
ASX refused Listing which had a flow on effect.
As the IPO would have generated sufficient cash to fund operational expenses and expansion.
Cause: ASX exercised discretion to refuse IPO despite leading them on for 4 months with no indication they were not happy. Could not provide decent reason for their refusal. ASIC gave green light.
Effect: redundancies, retraction of business expansion etc
Who is the real cause of this situation?
Facts…here are some facts
Promise in 2011 will list in mid 2012 …NO
JP Morgan pre IPO $100 m of capital and will lead the IPO …NO
Lenovo partnership biggest and best thing will conquer world …NO
US Market will be the biggest market ….NO
Acquire Blinkbox as part of UK expansion model…NO
ASIC gave green light for prospectus…NO it only said after 45 amendments it was happy with disclosure ASIC does not approve prospectuses
14,000 registered users …..No
Great Marketeers…..YES
Fact is these guys are out of their depth , poor management , poor strategy , poor model at best Naive at worst Fraud
The ASX is not the issue here – or the culprit. The issue is the fact that Guvera leadership did not have a Plan B., nor the foresight or intuition to know that they would need one. The result is $60M in outstanding debt, with no means to pay. So, yes, redundancies were a result (and something the directors have been battling for a year, or so). But, even with the terminations, Guvera (AMMA, specifically) continues to try to press on, continues to pound on investors for money – money the recently terminated employees deserve (in superannuation and entitlements), but will never see from Guvera. Please tell me if you think that is appropriate behaviour from an Australian listed corporation. I think the ASX had some perspective on the values/morals of Guvera leadership and, in the end, did the right thing. Something, sadly, Guvera leadership, still does not seem to comprehend. THANK YOU ASX.
Agree with all the above comments entirely. Nic, please do all stakeholders a favour and dig into this.
@Past Employee, Would you like to return and let everyone know you were paid this week as per normal pay schedule as promised? How about you @abandonedbyGuvera? Guvera has stated several times that is every intention of paying any super or entitlements to redundant employees and is in the process of work it out with Deloitte. Unfortunately, redundancies are common in business, profit or no profit, it’s just part of being a business. Many (if not all) very profitable businesses make implement redundancies due to strategy changes, efficiency improvements or to fatten the pockets of it’s shareholders. Investors… that’s the game you are in. The bigger the risk the bigger the profit. NO, yes I repeat NO, music streaming company is currently making a profit and ALL are pushing for subscriptions. Countries like Australia and USA are very expensive countries to stream music in. The emerging market strategy is the right strategy, brand funded music for people who refuse to pay for it.
@also a stakeholder , very sympathetic of you , how can you say with any certainty this mob will do anything that they say they will do
On public record
In 2011 they said we will list in 2012 … No
Lenevo partnership will launch us to the world .. No
We will list on the ASX …. No
JP morgan will raise 100m pre IPO and lead IPO ….NO
so now you say they will honour unpaid super entitlements to hard working australians ….your either naive or brainwashed from their very good marketing … And that’s what these guys are MARKETEERS, not businessman just look at their track record.
Thursday should be an interesting day. We will get to see Guvera’s grand plan to pay off $15M in debt – paying everyone what they are owed – creditors and former employees, alike. My guess is Darren Herft and crew will offer only pennies on the dollar. Which is why my vote will be for liquidation – leaving the directors wide open for a class action lawsuit for fraudulent and insolvent trading – [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
As for the whole “emerging markets” scheme (nonsense), where else are they going to go. Where else CAN they go? They have been run out of Australia (take a quick look at Twitter!), so they are tucking tail and running someplace where their reputation for fleecing investors, shady loans and inter-organisation dealings, defaulting on loans and payments to labels, as well as taking advantage of their employees is not as well known – at least not yet.
The funny thing about bad reputations… they follow you everywhere.
@also a stakeholder Redundancies may not be unusual but redundancies where staff are not paid any entitlements whilst the parent company moves on to raise more millions from yet more investors certainly is!!!! I am outraged that Guvera have seemingly made tens of Australian staff redundant with no entitlements paid and still expect to carry on as normal. Someone needs to intervene.
Here here! I understand redundancies happen from time to time but to not pay out what your staff is entitled to and leave them high and dry is just bad form. To then go on and try and save face with those cringeworthy propaganda videos is just mind boggling. Some of the staff have worked with the company for years, remaining loyal and focused even whilst disagreeing with a lot of their bad decisions.
We just want what is owed to us, some of us have mortgages and rely on our monthly salary to survive.
I’d also like it known that I have been advised to ‘keep quiet’ and while I’d love to show them this undeserved compassion, we will not be silenced and we will continue to speak out until we are paid what is owed to us.
WHOOOO-HOOOO!! Guvera employees were paid for the month of June!! God bless you, Guvera. How sincere, forthright and magnanimous of you you. You did what every other company in the world does – pay its employees for the work they have done. Now (without sounding TOO greedy or ungrateful)… where are my superannuation and entitlements?
I am trying to figure out why you equate Guvera to “many (if not all) very profitable business”, when, over the course of its entire shady/sordid history, Guvera has done nothing but haemorrhage cash and walk away from creditors (and now its employees)?! You mention strategy. WHAT IS GUVERA’S STRATEGY? (Begging investors for another $20M is NOT a strategy, by the way.) You mention efficiency improvements… What other cost-cutting measures had Guvera implemented to save money – other than axing 60+ employees? Reducing the number of markets? No. That was going to happen anyway – with or without the unfortunate demise of Omnifone. Unfortunately, cost-cutting measures at Guvera means STOP PAYING THE PEOPLE AND COMPANIES TO WHOM WE OWE MONEY.
Well, all those people (including shareholders) and companies that you owe money to are going to converge TOMORROW. And, it is going to be a righteous snack-down to your flawed strategies and absence of proper business ethics. I say… AMEN!!
I hope you are right , it about time they got what us coming greed and selfishness
Just look at this
http://www.theaustralian.com.a.....b234b48124
Unbelievable
I still haven’t been paid for my work for June. I was not based in Australia, but on another continent, so I doubt I will ever get my salary.
Surely no brand advertiser worth their salt will go anywhere near Guvera at the moment. Attempts to sell it as a highly engaging branded content platform seem feeble.
Here you can see the head of brand partnerships talking about what a ‘deep’ engagement offering they have for brands but what does that mean? There’s no mention of engagement rates, active user metrics, or methods of targeting, is it programmatic or by interest? He just keeps saying that it’s ‘deep’.
It’s going to be tough to pull in any advertisers to help them climb out of this hole with this vague nonsense:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDrp_9F76jE
Sorry you will have to google daren herft and kwickie in the Australian article today
Well said bec , with users jumping ship by the minute due to a poor App ( see reviews on apple store) and sacking 60 staff why would any brand want to associate with this company
Secondly advertising is a discretionary spend by organisations , when things are tough generally this is an area that has the focus re cuts , tough business model