Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au

Aaron Bunch
Failed Aussie music service boss banned

The corporate watchdog has disqualified the former director of collapsed Australian music streaming service Guvera from managing companies for two years.

January 14, 2020

The former director of collapsed Australian music streaming service Guvera has been banned from managing companies for two years by the corporate watchdog.

Gold Coast man Darren Russel Herft was disqualified by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission after seven Guvera Group companies failed to meet their legal obligations.

Herft improperly used the group for his gain in circumstances where there were significant conflicts of interest in the operation, ASIC said in a statement on Tuesday.

Debts owed to the Australian Taxation Office and the Office of State Revenue were also unpaid, the watchdog said.

Investigators found improper accounting practices had negatively impacted the financial viability of the group, leading to the conclusion that Herft had “not acted in good faith”.

The ban took effect on December 19 and will continue until December 18, 2021.

Guvera was founded in 2008 in response to an explosion in illegal music downloads, and officially launched as a digital music platform in 2010.

Six years later, a holding company for the group, Guvera Limited, attempted to make its initial $100 million public offering ahead of listing on the Australian Stock Exchange with a proposed market value over $500 million.

But in a surprise move, the ASX blocked Guvera’s proposed IPO saying it had “exercised its discretion” to refuse admission based on material contained in the company’s application.

A month later, Guvera Australia and Guv Services were placed into administration and later entered into liquidation.

Before its collapse, Guvera boasted it had more than 14 million users across 10 countries and was expanding into India, which would give it the edge over Spotify.

Guvera’s revenue came primarily from advertisers, as its main product was a free music service that included targeted branded content.

SEVEN GUVERA GROUP COMPANIES HERFT WAS A DIRECTOR OF:

Guvera Australia Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (Guvera Australia)

Guvera Operations Pty Ltd (in liquidation)

Guv Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (Guv Services)

Professional IPO Management Pty Ltd (deregistered)

KwikTV Australia Services Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (KwikTV)

The Product People (International) Pty Limited (in liquidation)

WWP Accounting Group Pty Ltd (deregistered)

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