It raises hundreds of millions of dollars a year for new and often-risky ventures but these days the tax-effective investment world only occasionally crosses the boundary to the full public glare of being a listed entity.
It raises hundreds of millions of dollars a year for new and often-risky ventures but these days the tax-effective investment world only occasionally crosses the boundary to the full public glare of being a listed entity.
The move by Frankland River Olive Company Ltd to consolidate its many grower-investors through various managed investment schemes, and raise about $6 million before a planned listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, is a rare public appearance.
If successful, it would also herald the appearance of a Western Australian-branded food producer on the ASX; an usual move, except in the olive sector, where two Perth-based, listed, brand owners already exist.
Tax-effective promoters hit the boards in mini-rush during the late 1990s, led by Timbercorp Ltd in 1996 – a Melbourne-based company whose blue gum forests were largely found in WA. After that the likes of Perth success story Great Southern Plantations Ltd, strugglers such as Tasmania’s Forest Enterprises Australia and failures like WA-based Australian Plantation Timber Ltd, also trod the ASX boards.
Another player, Integrated Tree Cropping Ltd, emerged in 2004 when private player ITC was backed by agribusiness specialist Futuris Corp Ltd to list and then acquired the remnants of APT.
On the wine side, collapsed Xanadu Ltd was largely listed on the back of investors in its vineyard schemes, while its newer Margaret River neighbour, Palandri Ltd, has had a mediocre performance as a listed entity on London’s Alternative Investments Market.
Various other wine companies have dabbled in this form of investment, albeit at a distance, largely using MIS arrangements to raise money for vineyards to which they offered long-term contracts.
The olive industry, too, has significant links to the MIS sector. Players such as Olea Australis Ltd and relative newcomer Piquant Blue Ltd, which has a strong connection to Timbercorp, have gone public.
Both are based here and have strong brands in WA – competing with FROC’s Jingilli brand.
Olea is best known for its Dandaragan Estate label, while consumers might be most familiar with Piquant Blue’s Red Island and Njoi brands.
The marketing strategies would be familiar to many followers of Australia’s wine, which forged a fresh identity in contrast to the staid brands of Europe.
Local olive producers such as FROC have even adopted wine’s box packaging known as the cask.
FROC managing director David Carr has mustered a board with experience at niche-market level, namely the WA wine sector. Mark Hohnen was an original player in the Margaret River Cape Mentelle story, which includes the founding of New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay, while Merv Lange is best known as the driving force behind Mt Barker’s Alkoomi Wines label. He also has a deep involvement with that region’s sizeable unlisted MIS group, Ferngrove.
