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Great Southern creditors' hopes dashed

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Maurice Dunlevy | June 20, 2009
Article from: The Australian

HOPES that creditors of failed agribusiness manager Great Southern would recoup up to $200 million from sales of outback cattle stations took another nosedive yesterday when one sold slightly below its 2006 purchase price and another was passed in.

On Tuesday, the Moola Bulla station in the Northern Territory was passed in at a Darwin auction for $25m.

Yesterday in Townsville, Wrotham Park Station, which Great Southern bought for $53.5m in mid-2006, failed to attract offers above $43m.

The high bidder, the Terra Firma-backed Consolidated Pastoral, is a favourite to eventually pick up the property. Consolidated Pastoral is also tipped to buy the 653,000ha Moola Bulla property.

Chudleigh Park, the other Great Southern property offered at the Townsville auction, was sold to a Darwin live cattle trader for $28m. Peter Camm, of Camm Cattle, purchased the 182,000ha property after it failed to sell under the hammer.

Great Southern is said to have paid $28.5m for the property three years ago.