Commander Australia
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| Industry | Telecommunications |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
| Services |
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| Website | www.commander.com.au |
Commander Australia is an Australian telecommunications company owned by M2 Group since 2009.
Commander was formed as a joint venture between Plessey and Telstra Corporation, selling PABX telephone systems under the name of Plestel Pty Ltd. The company held exclusive Australian rights to distribute products developed by 3Com, Nortel Networks and Siemens, many of which were rebadged and sold as Commander Systems.
The company was renamed to Commander Australia Limited in October 2000, and listed on the under the code ASX:CDR as part of a broader bid to convert the business into telecommunications provider.
During 2006, Commander embarked on an ambitious franchising scheme, setting up a pilot “Commander Center” franchise in Tasmania. Over 30 “Commander Centre” franchises were sold Australia-wide until toward the end of 2007, when the franchise model started showing some viability issues.
On 1 October 2007 the company was put into suspension from official quotation by the ASX due the failure of the company to lodge reports to the ASX by a regulatory-imposed deadline, freezing the value of the company at 53c per share. On 18 October 2007 the company was reinstated to official quotation, however within hours the share price halved.
On 30 January 2008 commander made 600 staff redundant. This increased its share price by 10%. However this share price was short lived, with the price back down to 19c within hours.
On Friday, 8 August 2008, the company announced to its investors and 1300 staff that it was placed under administrative receivership, owing $360 million to Westpac, Commonwealth and ANZ. At the time that the company went into administration, the share price was sitting at 8.2c.
In June 2009, M2 Group executed an Asset Sale Deed to acquire the Small & Medium Business assets and associated intellectual property of Commander for $19 million.
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