Gunns’ move to recapitalisation has been slow and full of setbacks and there is no end in sight. It appears that lenders to the embattled timber company are becoming nervous about the $500 million they are owed by the end of the year. Sources: Business Spectator, ABC News, The Australian Financial Review
The creditors led by ANZ Bank, are understood to have asked insolvency specialists KordaMentha to review Gunns’ balance sheet according to The Australian Financial Review. Gunns owes $340 million to a banking syndicate led by ANZ.
While the report is said to have been due last Friday, there’s no word about what KordaMentha uncovered.
For its part, Gunns, whose shares have been suspended since March, is making slow progress. Last week it offloaded its Victorian woodchipping export plant to Australian Bluegum Plantations.
That followed the May sale of the Heyfield native forest sawmill, also in Victoria, although that deal faces a legal challenge.
In the meantime, Gunns continues to search for investors to back a $400 recapitalisation, after Singapore’s Richard Chandler walked away from a potential $150 million deal in March.
