Shire pub snapped up by tres amigos
Riversdale CEO Paddy Coughlan said Singo was heavily involved in due diligence on the pub. "He rang [rugby league legend] Ron Massey and asked him to go have a beer in there. Thankfully Ron gave it the thumbs up. Geoff Dixon was also strongly in favour of the purchase due to the obvious operational upside and the $9.5 million replacement cost on the land and buildings. Mark Carnegie just asked who Ron Massey was and what or where is the Shire?"
Fiji land for sale
IT'S been 34 long years, but Boris Ganke is still trying to find a buyer for a slice of tropical heaven.
Ganke, a wily veteran businessman who this week executed some snappy manoeuvres to remain at the helm of Southern Cross Exploration (SXX), controls 17 hectares of beachfront property in Fiji together with business partner Evelyn Goh.
The land is at Nadi Bay, where the only sounds are the gentle lapping of water and the discreet roar of jets taking off and landing at the airport, the main runway of which runs beside the block.
SXX's shareholders would like to call in a $7 million loan to the Fijian company through which Ganke and Goh control the property, Nadi Bay Beach Corporation (NBBC).
But what chance would they have of making a dollar out of the land when Ganke has been trying to flog it off, bit by bit, since 1978?
In November that year NBBC placed an ad (pictured) in Sydney's Sun-Herald, offering "Beachfront estate villa sites" on the "sun-drenched tropical shores of Nadi Bay", starting from $16,900.
Research by Fairfax Media's library team shows NBBC used the classified columns of The Sydney Morning Herald to make much the same offer twice more the following month and once more in March 1979. The ads give the same Elizabeth Street, Sydney, address as that enjoyed by SXX and another Ganke company, Chapmans.
Chapmans' latest set of accounts, issued in August last year, show it loaned "less than $150,000 . . . over 30 years ago" to NBBC, but the interest owing on the loan has blown out to $512,000 and directors have written off the loan "as they cannot be fully satisfied of the recoverability at present".
Surely not. After all, NBBC in its 1979 ads offered "investment in Fiji which, if you've been there you will know is a sound and increasingly popular idea" promising
"high investment return
potential".
Ganke told CBD 46 quarter-acre lots had been sold, with the latest fetching $F750,000 (about $A410,000) 18 months ago.
"We've had three or four political coups in Fiji but the market in Fiji is currently particularly buoyant and we're confident we'll make a return in due course," he said.
Let's hope so.
Caving in to age
BALDING ex-punk Nick Cave has cracked the sads at attracting an affluent and ageing audience that includes the likes of NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.
This week the middle-aged crooner and his band, the Bad Seeds, played two shows at that anti-establishment icon, the Sydney Opera House, and the Premier and his retinue of bureaucrats were among the legions of suits absorbing the third-hand Seaview Ballroom vibes on Tuesday.
Come Wednesday's show,
easy-listening star Cave did a
double-take after looking down at the front row of the crowd and noticing that they were a generation younger than Tuesday's mob.
"Last night was like singing to a crowd of Leonard Cohen fans," Nick the Stripper jeered.
Dixon junior woes
WHILE pubs seem to be going well for Geoff Dixon, his son Ben's digital media company has hit financial strife.
Dixon senior is on the board of his son's Facilitate Digital Holdings, which on Thursday used its half-year financial statement to reveal it is depending on a pending $535,000 R&D tax refund to remain a going concern.
Let's hope the federal government doesn't do any more fiddling with the R&D incentive - it has already announced it will restrict the scheme to small companies.
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bbutler@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
The Como Hotel in Como, NSW (known as the Shire) was purchased for $4.6 million by a trio associated with Riversdale Group — John Singleton, Geoff Dixon and Mark Carnegie — and will be added to Riversdale’s pub portfolio.
Riversdale’s management cited clear operational upside and noted a replacement cost on the land and buildings of about $9.5 million, making the $4.6 million purchase look attractive from a replacement-cost and operations perspective.
Riversdale CEO Paddy Coughlan said John Singleton was heavily involved in due diligence — for example, Singleton rang rugby league figure Ron Massey to check the pub’s appeal — and Geoff Dixon strongly supported the purchase based on operational upside.
The Como Hotel will be added to the trio’s associate Riversdale Group, which already includes venues such as the Bellevue (popular with rugby and racing crowds), extending their hospitality footprint.
Businessman Boris Ganke and partner Evelyn Goh control 17 hectares of beachfront at Nadi Bay through Nadi Bay Beach Corporation (NBBC). SXX shareholders would like to call in a $7 million loan to NBBC, and Ganke has been marketing the land since 1978.
According to the article, NBBC advertised quarter‑acre villa sites in 1978–79 (starting from $16,900 in that era). Ganke said a quarter‑acre lot sold for F$750,000 (about A$410,000) roughly 18 months ago, but long‑running sales efforts and a loan from Chapmans with accumulated interest (written off) suggest mixed results.
Chapmans reportedly loaned less than $150,000 to NBBC over 30 years ago; interest has grown to $512,000 and directors have written the loan off because they couldn’t be satisfied of recoverability. Meanwhile SXX shareholders want to call in a $7 million loan to NBBC.
Facilitate Digital Holdings, a digital media company linked to Ben Dixon (son of Geoff Dixon), revealed it is relying on a pending $535,000 R&D tax refund to remain a going concern. Geoff Dixon senior is on the board, and the article notes government moves to restrict the R&D incentive to smaller companies could affect such refunds.
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