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Timbercorp landowners unite

Posted on July 28, 2009, 7:07am

Landowners who have leased land for bluegum plantations have begun to band together as battle lines are drawn over the collapse of Timbercorp and Great Southern.

About 30 landlords from across the Green Triangle attended a meeting in Hamilton on Thursday night as first steps were made to form a group to provide solidarity for lessors.

Group spokesperson Sam Dohle, who has leased 188 hectares of his Hamilton property to Timbercorp, said more than 40 people were already involved in the lessors’ group from throughout western Victoria and South East South Australia.

“We have formed to foster a greater understanding of the current situation, share and gather information and discuss possible options,” he said.

Mr Dohle said although legal representatives attended last week’s meeting to offer advice, the lessors were considering all possible options for the future of their leases.

“We haven’t got a formal view on what direction we will take, but as a group we can be approached by any of the consortiums KordaMentha has mentioned may be interested in the resource,” he said.

Mr Dohle said a meeting to formalise the group would be held within a fortnight and he hoped to attract more landlords in the region, with expectations there were 100 in the Green Triangle leasing to Timbercorp and a smaller number involved with Great Southern.

Meanwhile, liquidator KordaMentha is attempting to protect the 10,000 investors who handed over $800m to Timbercorp to grow trees on the leased land.

Leases could be terminated at the end of this month, but KordaMentha has applied to the Federal Court for an extension until September 30 as it attempts to find a way forward for the company before the plantation estate is broken up when landlords potentially seize ownership of trees in lieu of continued rent.

KordaMentha has called an urgent meeting next Friday as it also attempts to avoid the value of the asset diminishing, with maintenance now at a standstill across the country.

The forestry estate includes nearly 100,000 hectares of eucalyptus worth hundreds of millions of dollars planted on 38,800 hectares of freehold properties and 58,600 hectares of leased land.

A strategy will be outlined at the meeting to seek offers to acquire or recapitalise the forestry schemes through a competitive sale or recapitalisation process.

Liquidator Mark Korda said there was already strong interest from a large number of parties in the Timbercorp Group’s forestry assets and a formally structured process would ensure the best outcome for investors.

Mr Korda said investors would hear at the meeting from an independent auditor who will provide an opinion in relation to the liquidator’s scheme analysis, as well as an independent forestry expert who will answer questions relating to plantation yield and harvesting matters.

The meeting will be webcast live.

JASON WALLACE

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Comments

2 Responses to “Timbercorp landowners unite”

  1. yonomdle on July 28th, 2009 9:53 am 1

    Let’s live together, do not be selfish and greedy!

    Form joint ventures between land owners and the investors and share the profits when harvesting trees in the future.

    For example, landowners get one third of the profits and investors who will pay the all costs (exclding leases after forming joint ventures) to grow the trees get the rest of the profits.

  2. John Powis on July 29th, 2009 10:16 am 2

    As a landowner in WA, I find myself in an difficult situation. Do I (a) try and gain control of the plantation if the lease is not paid or (b) give an extension of time if requested (ie standstill)?

    As I see it all the grower investor has to do if they want to retain their interest in timber lots is to pay their account. Korda Mentha has stated that the money already received is in a trust account so therefore safe and only to be used for that.

    I attended a meeting in Mount Barker WA run by John Roche for the TC Growers Group and at times felt somewhat intimidated by his comments about landowners who may think they could gain control of their plantations and own the timber, would be in for a fight that could last for a long time in the courts.

    So far in this debate there has been far too much attention paid to the grower investor. Let’s not forget they have had their tax deduction, made good profits in the past and all they have to do is pay us landowners to keep their investment safe.