{"id":91989,"date":"2026-02-17T03:46:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T06:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/892980378"},"modified":"2026-02-17T03:46:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T06:46:41","slug":"australian-mining-firm-paid-a160k-cash-for-collapsed-mallusk-manufacturer-tribe-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/australian-mining-firm-paid-a160k-cash-for-collapsed-mallusk-manufacturer-tribe-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian mining firm paid \u00c2\u00a3160k cash for collapsed Mallusk manufacturer Tribe Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former consultant hired by the collapsed Mallusk mining firm Tribe Technology has paid just \u00a3160,000 in cash to buy the Invest NI<\/a>-backed company out of administration.<\/p>\n

Mike Wilkes\u2019 Wilxpro completed the acquisition of the mining and exploration equipment manufacturer<\/a> on January 14 in a deal that involved the Brisbane-based operation assuming \u00a32 million of debt Tribe Tech owed to its main lender, the Dublin office of global investment manager Beach Point Capital (BPC).<\/p>\n

Details of the deal have been published in a new report by the administrators at KPMG.<\/p>\n

Originally founded in late 2019 in Western Australia by Crossgar-born Charlie King, Tribe Tech expanded to a manufacturing<\/a> operation in Mallusk<\/a> in September 2021, promising to develop the world\u2019s first completely unmanned reverse circulation (RC) drill rig.<\/p>\n

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The move was backed by a support package worth around \u00a31.9m from Invest NI to support the creation of up to 120 jobs.<\/p>\n

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Former Economy Minister Gordon Lyons (left) announcing an Invest NI support package with Charlie King’s Tribe Tech (right) in 2021. Also pictured is Invest NI’s former director of trade and investment, Anne Beggs. <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tribe Tech completed an IPO (initial public offering) in September 2023, raising \u00a34.6m<\/a>, valuing the business at around \u00a322m.<\/p>\n

However, the company\u2019s value fell amid delays in the rollout of its first autonomous drill rig. <\/p>\n

Trading was suspended in January 2025 when Tribe Tech failed to publish its annual report. <\/p>\n

Shareholders approved a plan to delist from the London Stock Exchange\u2019s AIM market the following month.<\/p>\n

At the time of its collapse in January 2026<\/a>, Tribe Tech Group Ltd had a deficit of around \u00a39m on its books, including \u00a36.6m owed to BPC.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s understood just over \u00a31.1m of funding was paid out of Invest NI\u2019s \u00a31.9m support package, including \u00a3689,980 from the Access to Finance debt and equity scheme.<\/p>\n

The administrators at KPMG said while Tribe Tech Group achieved revenue growth between 2022 and 2025, delays and cost overruns in developing and delivering the complex new rig systems resulted in substantial losses, leaving the business unsustainable.<\/p>\n

By February 2025, Tribe Tech was costing around \u00a3900,000 per month to operate.<\/p>\n

Despite securing a further \u00a32.85m from BPC\u2019s Dublin office, and slashing costs to \u00a3150,000 per month, the company continued to face significant cash flow issues.<\/p>\n

By mid-2025, Tribe Tech brought in M&A advisors, who approached around 45 potential acquirers before KPMG were formally engaged in late November.<\/p>\n

With the company due to run out of cash by early January, an accelerated pre-pack administration sale was completed with Wilxpro, via a newly created subsidiary Tribe Tech UK.<\/p>\n

The sale included Tribe Tech\u2019s Australian entity, based in Perth.<\/p>\n

Mike Wilkes was previously hired by Tribe Tech as a consultant, while a company owned by his wife held a 0.08% equity interest in Tribe Tech\u2019s parent holding company.<\/p>\n

KPMG\u2019s administrators estimate around \u00a35.9m is owed to unsecured creditors, most of it to its loss-making parent holding company, which is also now in administration.<\/p>\n

The latest annual accounts for Tribe Technology Holdings Ltd show Invest NI held a 3.48% interest at the end of June 2024.<\/p>\n

It recorded a pre-tax loss of \u00a37.3m the same year.<\/p>\n

While preferential and secondary preferential creditors will be repaid in full, it\u2019s unclear how much will be left for Tribe Tech\u2019s unsecured creditors.<\/p>\n

In a statement last month, Invest NI told the Belfast Telegraph it was \u201ccurrently assessing any clawback implications\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… born Charlie King, Tribe Tech<\/span> expanded to a manufacturing operation … investment, Anne Beggs. Tribe Tech<\/span> completed an IPO (initial public … By February 2025, Tribe Tech<\/span> was costing around \u00c2\u00a3900,000 … annual accounts for Tribe Technology<\/span> Holdings Ltd show Invest …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}