Balcanoona

Traveling through The Flinders Ranges , very green , pretty unusual. Our car is in the background ! Posted by The Leaping Loonies at 11:19 AM. 0 comments:. Post a Comment · Newer Post Older Post Home. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) ..

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Loonies on Tour: Traveling through The Flinders Ranges , very …

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JAMES PACKER is set to sell off the massive rural holdings his family built up over a quarter of a century, raising suspicions that the proceeds will be used to shore-up shaky parts of his diminishing empire.
Reports that a British private equity firm, Terra Firma, is interested in buying the Packer family’s 16 properties for about $425 million come as the credit crunch severely dampens investors’ ability to borrow.
Although Mr Packer had considered selling a stake in his Consolidated Pastoral Company to private equity early last year, he intended to retain family ties to an iconic Australian business that his father, the late Kerry Packer, began 25 years ago. Packer will sell 90 per cent of Consolidated Pastoral, Australia’s second-largest cattle owner, to Terra Firma, but he will allow Ken Warriner, a long-time family friend and boss of the cattle empire, to keep his 10 per cent holding.
Now the credit crunch seems to have put paid to those hopes.
Terra Firma is not the first foreign investor to buy swathes of outback cattle stations.
The sale will force the billionaire, who worked as a jackeroo on one of the family stations in the Northern Territory when he was a teenager, to relinquish his title as one of Australia’s largest landholders. In 2005 the Sultan of Brunei joined investors from Malaysia, Indonesia, Argentina and the US by buying five stations.
The value of almost all of Mr Packer’s other assets are at record lows.
The sale, expected to be finalised in the new year, comes at a high point for remote cattle properties in northern Australia, as expectations of growing demand for beef in China and India and weakness in the Australian dollar push up prices.5 billion this year as the value of his listed gambling company, Crown, fell along with his media group, Consolidated Media Holdings, and his financial services company, Challenger. He has lost more than $3.
His gambling investments have been under pressure because he bought into several US companies at the top of the market.
Packer is also rumoured to have quietly put the last of his media interests – a 38 per cent stake in Consolidated Media Holdings – on the auction block. Analysts have already declared one of his $414 million investments as worthless and fear he could be forced to tip more cash in to keep them afloat. Analysts have already declared one of his $414 million investments as worthless and fear he could be forced to tip more cash in to keep them afloat. This month it launched a $300 million equity placement to strengthen its balance sheet as gambling fell in the US, Macau and Australia.8 million) to fund nine casinos in Canada through a joint venture with Macquarie Bank. Consolidated Pastoral is a part of the family’s private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, and owns 17 beef-producing properties – mostly in the territory and Queensland – covering more than 5 million hectares, or almost the size of Tasmania.
Mr Packer’s pastoral interests are a little known part of his financial empire.
The properties include the 1 million-hectare Newcastle Waters station in the territory, which Kerry Packer bought in 1983. It employs 139 people, nearly half of them as station hands or jackeroos. “[Kerry] said, ‘You guys tell each other everything. Mr Warriner said James’s father showed a close interest in the properties.’ He had a lot of time for the people in the north because they copped it pretty tough. You’ve got nothing to hide; it’s all open. . Cattle are bred on the outlying properties, and trucked south to be fattened in southern Queensland. The farming empire extends to a half stake in the meat-processor Teys and the exporter Austrex. Continued…

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JAMES PACKER is set to sell off the massive rural holdings his family built up over a quarter of a century, raising suspicions that the proceeds will be used to shore-up shaky parts of his diminishing empire.
Reports that a British private equity firm, Terra Firma, is interested in buying the Packer family’s 16 properties for about $425 million come as the credit crunch severely dampens investors’ ability to borrow.
Although Mr Packer had considered selling a stake in his Consolidated Pastoral Company to private equity early last year, he intended to retain family ties to an iconic Australian business that his father, the late Kerry Packer, began 25 years ago. Packer will sell 90 per cent of Consolidated Pastoral, Australia’s second-largest cattle owner, to Terra Firma, but he will allow Ken Warriner, a long-time family friend and boss of the cattle empire, to keep his 10 per cent holding.
Now the credit crunch seems to have put paid to those hopes.
Terra Firma is not the first foreign investor to buy swathes of outback cattle stations.
The sale will force the billionaire, who worked as a jackeroo on one of the family stations in the Northern Territory when he was a teenager, to relinquish his title as one of Australia’s largest landholders. In 2005 the Sultan of Brunei joined investors from Malaysia, Indonesia, Argentina and the US by buying five stations.
The value of almost all of Mr Packer’s other assets are at record lows.
The sale, expected to be finalised in the new year, comes at a high point for remote cattle properties in northern Australia, as expectations of growing demand for beef in China and India and weakness in the Australian dollar push up prices.5 billion this year as the value of his listed gambling company, Crown, fell along with his media group, Consolidated Media Holdings, and his financial services company, Challenger. He has lost more than $3.
His gambling investments have been under pressure because he bought into several US companies at the top of the market.
Packer is also rumoured to have quietly put the last of his media interests – a 38 per cent stake in Consolidated Media Holdings – on the auction block. Analysts have already declared one of his $414 million investments as worthless and fear he could be forced to tip more cash in to keep them afloat. Analysts have already declared one of his $414 million investments as worthless and fear he could be forced to tip more cash in to keep them afloat. This month it launched a $300 million equity placement to strengthen its balance sheet as gambling fell in the US, Macau and Australia.8 million) to fund nine casinos in Canada through a joint venture with Macquarie Bank. Consolidated Pastoral is a part of the family’s private company, Consolidated Press Holdings, and owns 17 beef-producing properties – mostly in the territory and Queensland – covering more than 5 million hectares, or almost the size of Tasmania.
Mr Packer’s pastoral interests are a little known part of his financial empire.
The properties include the 1 million-hectare Newcastle Waters station in the territory, which Kerry Packer bought in 1983. It employs 139 people, nearly half of them as station hands or jackeroos. “[Kerry] said, ‘You guys tell each other everything. Mr Warriner said James’s father showed a close interest in the properties.’ He had a lot of time for the people in the north because they copped it pretty tough. You’ve got nothing to hide; it’s all open. . Cattle are bred on the outlying properties, and trucked south to be fattened in southern Queensland. The farming empire extends to a half stake in the meat-processor Teys and the exporter Austrex. Continued…

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SHAREHOLDERS in Babcock & Brown Communities have voted in favour of a series of changes that will result in the aged-care trust being recapitalised, renamed and removed from its troubled parent, investment group Babcock & Brown.
At its annual general meeting yesterday, Babcock & Brown Communities shareholders agreed to all of the resolutions proposed the previous month by property group Lend Lease, in the hope that fresh capital and new management might be able to turn around the struggling operator and manager of retirement accommodation.
Lend Lease will become the responsible entity and major shareholder in the trust, ending up eventually with a 43. .2 per cent stake.5 per cent share, and its directors will resign, ending all involvement in the trust.
Babcock & Brown will sell its 12.
In acquiring its stake, Lend Lease will be issued with new shares that will raise $195 million of capital.
“The trust has been undercapitalised for some time, and the share price reflected that,” Mr Fehring said. Rod Fehring, chief executive of Lend Lease Ventures, the company’s venture capital business, will become chief executive of the new trust.”
But the level of gearing in the fund, which was the original cause of BBC’s problems, will not significantly change. “[The involvement of Lend Lease] will strengthen the capital base; it has reduced borrowings by $75 million, and adds scale through the addition of seven retirement villages, or 1154 units.
Mr Fehring said the trust would aim for a debt of between 30 and 40 per cent, which was “a reasonable level”. Debt in the fund is now at 39 per cent.
He said Lend Lease would also bring property development skills.
He said Lend Lease would also bring property development skills.
The trust plans to change the way management fees are paid. We are,” he said.
Shares in Babcock & Brown Communities jumped 19 per cent, or 3c, to 18. Mr Fehring said the previous fee structure was designed for the company float; the new arrangement would align management interests more closely with those of shareholders.

.5c yesterday

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SHAREHOLDERS in Babcock & Brown Communities have voted in favour of a series of changes that will result in the aged-care trust being recapitalised, renamed and removed from its troubled parent, investment group Babcock & Brown.
At its annual general meeting yesterday, Babcock & Brown Communities shareholders agreed to all of the resolutions proposed the previous month by property group Lend Lease, in the hope that fresh capital and new management might be able to turn around the struggling operator and manager of retirement accommodation.
Lend Lease will become the responsible entity and major shareholder in the trust, ending up eventually with a 43. .2 per cent stake.5 per cent share, and its directors will resign, ending all involvement in the trust.
Babcock & Brown will sell its 12.
In acquiring its stake, Lend Lease will be issued with new shares that will raise $195 million of capital.
“The trust has been undercapitalised for some time, and the share price reflected that,” Mr Fehring said. Rod Fehring, chief executive of Lend Lease Ventures, the company’s venture capital business, will become chief executive of the new trust.”
But the level of gearing in the fund, which was the original cause of BBC’s problems, will not significantly change. “[The involvement of Lend Lease] will strengthen the capital base; it has reduced borrowings by $75 million, and adds scale through the addition of seven retirement villages, or 1154 units.
Mr Fehring said the trust would aim for a debt of between 30 and 40 per cent, which was “a reasonable level”. Debt in the fund is now at 39 per cent.
He said Lend Lease would also bring property development skills.
He said Lend Lease would also bring property development skills.
The trust plans to change the way management fees are paid. We are,” he said.
Shares in Babcock & Brown Communities jumped 19 per cent, or 3c, to 18. Mr Fehring said the previous fee structure was designed for the company float; the new arrangement would align management interests more closely with those of shareholders.

.5c yesterday

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TIMBERCORP paid the family company of the non-executive chairman Rod Fitzroy $744,000 to terminate a five-year consultancy agreement, on top of the $60,000 he earned sitting on the company’s board last financial year and the $400,000 from the consulting contract.
The agribusiness investment manager, which is in desperate race to offload assets to pay down its crippling $935 million of debts, has revealed in its annual report the contract was terminated the month before Mr Fitzroy was appointed chairman on October 1.
Timbercorp argued in the corporate governance statement in the report that the “contractual relationship was not considered to interfere with Mr Fitzroy’s ability to exercise independent judgment”.
Given the five-year consultancy agreement – for “horticultural asset acquisition advice” – had already run for close toly three years when it was terminated, Mr Fitzroy was paid almost all of the $800,000 in additional fees he would have earned had the contract had run to its conclusion.
The $400,000 a year consultancy contract was struck on October 8, 2005, a week before Mr Fitzroy joined the Timbercorp board as a director. Mr Fitzroy had experience in developing large scale almond plantations before joining the company.
A Timbercorp spokesman argued there was nothing untoward in Mr Fitzroy earning fees as a consultant while serving as a non-executive director.
Mr Fitzroy retired from Fitzroys, the real estate firm he founded in 1973, the year he joined the Timbercorp board.
Timbercorp, despite its financial difficulties and its decision not to pay a final dividend, still managed to lend $1.
He is best known for his role as chairman of the Victoria Racing Club.
The spokesman argued the loans were made on a commercial basis and the money borrowed was invested back into Timbercorp’s various investment products.4 million to its directors and senior management last financial year.3 million loaned out to directors and management at September 30, with the former chairman Robert Hance still owing $2. .3 million at the end of last financial year.3 million at the end of last financial year.
Timbercorp shares closed unchanged yesterday at 11.
The company has appointed Goldman Sachs JBWere to advise on the divestment of its forestry plantations. They were worth $4 in April 2006.5c.

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TIMBERCORP paid the family company of the non-executive chairman Rod Fitzroy $744,000 to terminate a five-year consultancy agreement, on top of the $60,000 he earned sitting on the company’s board last financial year and the $400,000 from the consulting contract.
The agribusiness investment manager, which is in desperate race to offload assets to pay down its crippling $935 million of debts, has revealed in its annual report the contract was terminated the month before Mr Fitzroy was appointed chairman on October 1.
Timbercorp argued in the corporate governance statement in the report that the “contractual relationship was not considered to interfere with Mr Fitzroy’s ability to exercise independent judgment”.
Given the five-year consultancy agreement – for “horticultural asset acquisition advice” – had already run for close toly three years when it was terminated, Mr Fitzroy was paid almost all of the $800,000 in additional fees he would have earned had the contract had run to its conclusion.
The $400,000 a year consultancy contract was struck on October 8, 2005, a week before Mr Fitzroy joined the Timbercorp board as a director. Mr Fitzroy had experience in developing large scale almond plantations before joining the company.
A Timbercorp spokesman argued there was nothing untoward in Mr Fitzroy earning fees as a consultant while serving as a non-executive director.
Mr Fitzroy retired from Fitzroys, the real estate firm he founded in 1973, the year he joined the Timbercorp board.
Timbercorp, despite its financial difficulties and its decision not to pay a final dividend, still managed to lend $1.
He is best known for his role as chairman of the Victoria Racing Club.
The spokesman argued the loans were made on a commercial basis and the money borrowed was invested back into Timbercorp’s various investment products.4 million to its directors and senior management last financial year.3 million loaned out to directors and management at September 30, with the former chairman Robert Hance still owing $2. .3 million at the end of last financial year.3 million at the end of last financial year.
Timbercorp shares closed unchanged yesterday at 11.
The company has appointed Goldman Sachs JBWere to advise on the divestment of its forestry plantations. They were worth $4 in April 2006.5c.

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BT Investment Management received an $11 million management fee from its troubled global return fund last year even though it outsources the fund’s investment decisions to a secretive US firm with links to the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.
The BT global return fund’s annual report shows BT Investment Management took the $11 million as the responsible entity for the fund.
The fund’s product disclosure statement also shows a management fee is “deducted” by the fund’s manager, the privately held Chicago firm Grosvenor Capital Management.
At a rate of 0.
BT says that because the fee is deducted from the returns Grosvenor makes from investments it is not disclosed by BT in its accounts “in accordance with the Corporations Act”.2 billion fund, Grosvenor’s fee is about $10 million.83 per cent of the $1.
It is the second piece of damaging news in as many days for the investment manager, controlled by Westpac.
BT told investors it had been notified by the fund’s manager, Grosvenor, that it had “segregated” some assets in the fund into which Grosvenor invested their money. .
In the letter to investors, the chief executive of BT Investment Management, Dirk Morris, said: “Grosvenor’s actions and BTIM’s subsequent decision to initiate the suspension have been made to protect investors’ interests and to ensure that continuing investors are not disadvantaged by withdrawals from the GRF [global return fund].
While BT stopped redemptions from its fund, Grosvenor did not stop redemptions from the Cayman Islands fund in which it was investing BT’s money, Grosvenor Master Fund.”
Jill Riddiford, a spokeswoman for BT Investment Management, declined to clarify why BT stopped investors withdrawing money from the $1.
“This is because allowing investors to withdraw would mean that the continuing investors would hold an increasing proportion of the segregated (less liquid) assets.2 billion global return fund despite Grosvenor not freezing withdrawals from its master fund.2 billion global return fund despite Grosvenor not freezing withdrawals from its master fund.
In the fund’s November update, its six- and 12-month returns were about minus 25 per cent.
The global return fund aims to provide absolute returns of 10 to 15 per cent a year over three years.54 last year to $1.
Its unit price had fallen from $1.

.01 before it was frozen

.

BT Investment Management received an $11 million management fee from its troubled global return fund last year even though it outsources the fund’s investment decisions to a secretive US firm with links to the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.
The BT global return fund’s annual report shows BT Investment Management took the $11 million as the responsible entity for the fund.
The fund’s product disclosure statement also shows a management fee is “deducted” by the fund’s manager, the privately held Chicago firm Grosvenor Capital Management.
At a rate of 0.
BT says that because the fee is deducted from the returns Grosvenor makes from investments it is not disclosed by BT in its accounts “in accordance with the Corporations Act”.2 billion fund, Grosvenor’s fee is about $10 million.83 per cent of the $1.
It is the second piece of damaging news in as many days for the investment manager, controlled by Westpac.
BT told investors it had been notified by the fund’s manager, Grosvenor, that it had “segregated” some assets in the fund into which Grosvenor invested their money. .
In the letter to investors, the chief executive of BT Investment Management, Dirk Morris, said: “Grosvenor’s actions and BTIM’s subsequent decision to initiate the suspension have been made to protect investors’ interests and to ensure that continuing investors are not disadvantaged by withdrawals from the GRF [global return fund].
While BT stopped redemptions from its fund, Grosvenor did not stop redemptions from the Cayman Islands fund in which it was investing BT’s money, Grosvenor Master Fund.”
Jill Riddiford, a spokeswoman for BT Investment Management, declined to clarify why BT stopped investors withdrawing money from the $1.
“This is because allowing investors to withdraw would mean that the continuing investors would hold an increasing proportion of the segregated (less liquid) assets.2 billion global return fund despite Grosvenor not freezing withdrawals from its master fund.2 billion global return fund despite Grosvenor not freezing withdrawals from its master fund.
In the fund’s November update, its six- and 12-month returns were about minus 25 per cent.
The global return fund aims to provide absolute returns of 10 to 15 per cent a year over three years.54 last year to $1.
Its unit price had fallen from $1.

.01 before it was frozen