Ecovis Sydney provides comprehensive start-up services to UK film company

Background

In November 2012 KEO Films, which had recently won a contract to produce an Australian version of a UK TV series, was put in contact with Ecovis Sydney, because they needed to get their footprint established urgently, before Christmas!

Issue

The key issues were:

• What form should the Australian presence take?
• While effectively a start-up in Australia, could they obtain bank debt funding for a commercial property they had identified for purchase?
• How fast could all of this happen?

Solution

We quickly determined the most appropriate structure in which to combine asset protection, tax efficiency (in terms of their UK/Australia interaction) and manage their new Australian business.

This included a main trading company, an additional company in which to hold a primary production property, and a further company in which to hold the intellectual property that they expected to develop in Australia.

Within a few days we had:

• established all three companies with ASIC (with David Conley as resident director for each), and had them registered for all necessary taxes with the ATO and OSR.
• Through a referral to a local commercial lawyer, we ensured any necessary agreements between the three entities and the UK parent were being considered, to satisfy Australian/UK laws, as well as potential transfer pricing issues.
• Through a referral to a local immigration agent, we ensured that the client was being advised on options for potential secondments of UK employees to Australia to assist in the local operations, and
• through referral to several banks, we enabled the client to determine the best fit for their needs quickly, and they were able to purchase a commercial property with borrowed funds.

We subsequently provided ongoing tax, accounting and audit support for the Australian operations.

Currently

KEO Films enjoyed five years in Australian but for commercial reasons ceased operations in 2017 and reverted to a license arrangement with local third-party producers.

Author
David Conley, Director,
ECOVIS Clarc Jacobs, Sydney, Australia
david.conley@ecovis.com.au