THE receivers of the failed pastoral and timber investment group, Great Southern, are seeking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from the previously planned sale of the company's three major cattle stations.
Interest in acquiring the huge properties in Western Australia and Far North Queensland has jumped since Great Southern went into administration at the weekend with potential buyers now looking to make the most of the group's plight.
But McGrathNicol, appointed by the company's bankers on Tuesday to recover $600 million of loans, is understood to have ruled out an immediate fire sale of the assets.
The public auction of the properties will go ahead next month if any private bids do not meet the expectations.
The 660,000-hectare Moola Bulla in WA's East Kimberley, the similarly sized Wrotham Park, 300 kilometres west of Cairns, and the 196,000-hectare blue-ribbon Chudleigh Park near Townsville are worth well over $200 million on Great Southern's books.
Great Southern's management team had officially put the properties up for sale just a fortnight before they handed over control to administrator Ferrier Hodgson on Sunday.
The disposals were part of a five-point plan to reduce drastically the group's bank debt.
But the lenders lost patience with the board - and lost confidence in its ability to deliver on the plan - and refused a request for $35 million in short-term borrowings to help it through to the auctions on June 16 and 19.
However, it is likely the receivers will request additional financial support to tide the company over until then.
They will sell the leases the company has over another 2.4 million hectares of pastoral land as well the rest of the 240,000 head of cattle not included in the auction of the three properties.
Several of Australia's major land and cattle owners are believed to have lodged interest in buying the stations and Great Southern's financial demise is said to have attracted further interest from abroad.
The receivers plan to accelerate the sale of the separately owned timber plantations, wood chipping, processing and ports businesses which were marketed by Great Southern's adviser, Macquarie Group.
Asian buyers are understood to be keen to pick up those operations.
The land in question totals 370,000 hectares in southern and western Australia.
A major problem will be Great Southern's 45 managed investment schemes, through which 43,000 investors had acquired a variety of crops:
• Olives and almonds,
• Wine grapes and
• Timber for pulping and chipping.
A creditors' meeting is set for Melbourne next Wednesday.
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