Super Rugby Pacific franchise Moana Pasifika have been placed in liquidation, as the team head to Canberra for their final game on Saturday.
New Zealand Rugby will cover the team’s costs related to the upcoming game and pay players in the short-term, however both the squad and several dozen support staff, including coaches, are likely to become creditors of the defunct company.
The liquidation follows a failed effort to sell the team; Moana Pasifika retained Deloitte in 2025 to run the sale process but no acceptable bid emerged.
It appears that parties, including team shareholder Pasifika Medical Association (PMA), New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association all had some say in that process.
A first liquidator’s report is expected early next week and the team’s debts are likely to heavily outweigh assets. The debts include a Crown loan of $2.7 million.
Stephen White and John Fisk, both senior managing directors of Teneo Financial Advisory, were appointed liquidators on Monday by a special resolution of Moana Pasifika shareholders.
White said he is still working through the company information, but that there don’t appear to be significant assets in the company.
He said staff, including players, total between 75 and 80; he confirmed that most players’ contracts run until the end of October 2026, but a handful run until October 2027.
New Zealand Rugby spokesman Paul Stevens confirmed that while Moana’s players are privately contracted to Moana Pasifika, NZR will continue to cover the squad’s pay until roughly the end of July, in order for the season to be completed.
The unpaid portion of their contracts will likely make them creditors.
Despite the liquidation, NZR indicated that it retains some hope that the Moana Pasifika brand and licence can be carried forward.
The team’s brand and intellectual property sit within the liquidation process and will be sold if a buyer can be found.
The ability to grant a team licence sits with NZR.
In a written statement, NZR said: “There continues to be parties interested in the future of Moana Pasifika. To be granted a licence to compete in the competition, those parties are required to present a long-term business plan to NZR.
“Interested parties will also have to work with the liquidators to acquire the Moana Pasifika brand and intellectual property.”
It’s understood that any new licence holder would need to demonstrate the ability to meet a team’s annual running costs of between $10m and $12m.
There are rules against “phoenix companies”, where a successor company is set up after acquiring the assets of a liquidated company. These are broadly limited to preventing the liquidated company’s directors from serving the successor firm.
Moana Pasifika never financially stable
Moana Pasifika Ltd was established in 2021 and the team played their first Super Rugby Pacific season in 2022.
Since inception, Moana have survived with the help of public money, which included a $3m Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa loan and grants of $1.5m: $1m of which went to Moana Pasifika Ltd, and $500,000 of which went to its original shareholder, Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust.
As the Herald has previously reported, taken together, the concessions provided to Moana on the loan have long cast repayment in doubt and raised questions about the financial footing of the team.
While the Sport NZ loan bears a notional interest rate of 5%, no interest has ever been paid on it, though $300,000 in principal has been repaid.
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