Letari to acquire listed olive business

Frankland River Olive Company chairman Paul Letari appears set to wholly acquire and privatise the business, after increasing his shareholding to more than 90 per cent.

In a statement today, Frankland River said it had received a letter from Toscana, an entity controlled by Mr Letari, advising that it had increased its shareholding to 91.6 per cent after purchasing $46,375 worth of shares, and will now proceed to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares.

“Toscana will shortly request the Australian Securities and Investments Commission nominate an independent expert to prepare a report on whether the acquisition price determined by Toscana for the remaining shares in the company is a fair value,” Toscana said in the letter.

Frankland produced 548,533 litres of olive oil in its last harvest, in August last year, while reviewing its operations with a focus on reducing costs.

The company incurred a half-year net loss of $320,416, narrowed from a $859,477 loss recorded in the previous corresponding period, with $413,558 in revenue.

The majority of funds for working capital requirements and funding obligations have been by Mr Letari.

Frankland held just over $7 million in assets as of December 31, including 783 hectares of land in Frankland and 1,360ha of land in Mogumber, of which 735ha have been planted with olive trees.

Established in 1999, Frankland listed on the ASX in July 2006, after completing a $5.88 million initial public offering at 25 cents per share, which was underwritten by Patersons Securities

It was the highest price the company’s shares ever traded.

Frankland shares were unchanged at 0.4 cents each at the close.