The company Hills has manufactured the backyard icon Hills hoist clothesline.

This comes after a court battle with one of their suppliers, Stellar Vision Operators. The court ruled in favour of the suppliers.

The case was initially thrown out in 2022, but Stellar Vision Operators won an appeal. The court ordered a $5.48 million payout.

A statement from the company said it is “seeking a voluntary suspension pending resolution and an announcement by the company in relation to ongoing settlement negotiations between the parties and other stakeholders.”

Hills chief executive David Clarke said the outcome was “incredibly disappointing.”

"This is not an outcome we ever envisaged, particularly following our successful capital raising in April, which brought on board a new cornerstone investor and, we believed, set up Hills for long-term success,' Mr Clarke told the Daily Mail.

"To have the company enter administration as a result of a historic legal action over a transaction that long predates the current management and board, and has never had any bearing on the operations of the business, is incredibly disappointing.

"Our consistent legal advice was that this legal claim would ultimately be resolved in Hills' favour, which made the Court of Appeal ruling so unexpected.

"The board and management have worked tirelessly through the standstill period in an attempt to negotiate a commercial outcome with Stellar Vision that would protect the interests of all Hills shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.

"However, we have been unable to reach an agreement that satisfied the requirements of all stakeholders."