Olive branch for Great Southern

Kailis Organic Olive Groves and Sumich Olive Group of Companies, which manage Great Southern's 2400 hectares of olive plantations in Western Australia, have put forward proposals to Great Southern's administrators and receivers that they believe will make the olive projects viable.

Kailis manages 72 per cent of the olive groves and Sumich the remaining 28 per cent.

Great Southern, which operated 45 forestry, horticulture and cattle managed investment schemes (MIS) on behalf of 43,000 investors, was placed in administration and receivership in May when it could not service its massive debt. The company had liabilities of $996.4 million, including loans and borrowings of $833.9 million on April 30.

A spokesman for the olive management group, Mark Kailis, said the group had in-principle support for their proposal from Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which provided loans to some investor growers in Great Southern's olive MIS. "We are confident our proposals will have the potential to preserve value in the schemes for investor growers," he said.

Kailis has had olive grove management experience since 1994, while Sumich has been managing olives for more than a decade. Both groups operate in the high-value extra virgin olive oil market, and own and operate large commercial processing mills.

Great Southern's receivers, McGrath Nicol, are still investigating Great Southern's various schemes, and are expected to call for expressions of interest soon into ways to help make the schemes viable.

Meanwhile, Great Southern's administrators, Ferrier Hodgson, have won a further 60-day extension to the convening period for the second meeting of creditors. The extension, granted in the WA Supreme Court, means the meeting must be convened by November 13 and held no later than November 20.