May 11, 2009 17:35 PM

Luxury Boat Builder In Receivership, Up For Sale

MELBOURNE, May 11 (Bernama) -- Australia's biggest luxury boat building operation is in voluntary receivership and will be put up for sale.

Deloitte partners Chris Campbell, Vaughan Strawbridge and Richard Hughes have been appointed receivers and managers of Riviera, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.

The company operates a state-of-the-art boat building facility at Coomera on the Gold Coast in Queensland and exports to more than 30 countries.

Riviera shed 117 of its Gold Coast staff in January in the wake of the global downturn, AAP said.

It also closed its production line for three weeks, from April 10 to May 5, in a bid to clear stock held by international dealers.

In 2008, it cut more than 300 staff from its Coomera headquarters.

It has 550 employees, and Campbell said he could not guarantee that all those jobs were safe.

Sales over the past 12 months had been "significantly impacted" by the global financial crisis, Campbell said.

He said Riviera would continue to take part in the upcoming Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show on the Gold Coast from May 21 to 24.

-- BERNAMA

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