Palandri deals to be probed

CREDITORS will be hoping for higher returns from the collapsed Palandri Wine Group as the company is placed into liquidation and the probe into some of the group's transactions continues.

This week, creditors voted overwhelmingly in favour of liquidation, heeding administrator Deloitte's recommendation and voting for the accounting firm to act as liquidators.

Deloitte was appointed as administrators in February this year following concerns over loans Palandri, founded by Darrel Jarvis, had connected to its managed investment schemes.

Administrator Gary Doran told WA Business News a return to creditors was likely to be higher if the group was wound up than it would be under a proposed deed of company arrangement.

"The primary reason why creditors wanted the group to go into liquidation was so that the liquidators can investigate further certain transactions and see whether they can make any recoveries from third parties," Mr Doran said.

"If those claims [against third parties] are successful, it may provide a higher return to investors."

Mr Doran declined to give an estimate of the amount that may be returned to creditors, saying the investigations needed to be completed first.

Last month, lawyers revealed in the Supreme Court of WA that some vineyard lots were sub-leased to investors in two separate managed investment schemes under different names.

"We would hope within six months we would be able to finish those investigations and public examinations so that we can get a better feel for what the potential magnitude of the likely recovery is," Mr Doran said.

"Then we would hold a meeting of creditors and put that to the creditors so they can decide what they want to do."

In August, Mr Doran declared Palandri insolvent and had said the managed investment schemes could lose about $160 million.

Mr Doran told WA Business News this week that most of Palandri's assets had either been sold or were in the process of being sold.

In June this year, the group's Margaret River Winery, the Palandri brands and the majority of the wine inventory, among other assets, were sold to Chinese company Global Wine Holdings Pty Ltd