I hadn't considered what happens when a company goes into administration, but I am surprised that it's another private company that is assigned to administrating it. I had always assumed it was a department in the government that handled the process.
No, it's not really the kind of thing governments could do, as they can't really be independent; they're generally a major creditor (for unpaid taxes) along with all the others.
In Australia, independent administrator is appointed who is working on behalf of creditors. Government is usually another creditor so they are not exactly an independent party.
There's an Australian company called KordaMentha that specializes almost exclusively in bankruptcies. (Or, at least to us laymen, never makes the news for anything else.)
Funnily enough, Korda Mentha came into existence as a result of two (or indeed, three) giant corporate collapses, one being Australia's previous second airline.
When Ansett Airlines went into administration in 2001, Arthur Andersen was appointed administrator, and Korda and Mentha were the partners put in charge of the business.
Then Arthur Andersen was forced to shut down as a result of its part in the Enron collapse, so Korda and Mentha started their own firm to handle the ongoing Ansett work.
Providing administration/liquidation services is a big industry. They come in to protect the interests of creditors and can usually be replaced by a vote of the creditors.
