u won't c a cracker

COLLAPSED timber company Gunns Limited owes $70 million to 857 unsecured creditors, who are unlikely to see any of the money.

The company, which went into receivership in September, owes its banking syndicate $490 million. Employees are owed $9.7 million in holiday pay and long-service leave.

Unsecured creditors and the holders of 848 million shares are unlikely to see any return, despite the impending sale of a number of assets including softwood sawmills at Bell Bay and in South Australia.

The company's report as to affairs, lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission yesterday, reveals it has an interest in land worth $184 million, mostly in Tasmania.

Receiver Bryan Webster withheld the "realisable value" of many of the company's assets, citing commercial sensitivity.

Several Tasmanian logging contractors are owed significant amounts including Les Walkden ($3 million), Kevin Morgan ($725,000), Northrop Logging ($312,000) and Lloyds North ($348,000).

Local councils owed significant amounts include Burnie ($50,000), Dorset ($45,253), George Town ($63,000), Huon Valley ($18,000), Kentish ($17,000), Launceston ($38,000), Meander Valley ($29,000), Southern Midlands ($19,000) and Waratah-Wynyard ($85,000).

The buyer of Gunns' wineries, Brown Brothers Milawa, is owed $874,000, Forestry Tasmania $530,000, TasPorts $56,000 and Aurora Energy $316,000.

From the Mercury