`Woolworths Agrees to Offer Kailis Organic Olive Oil Under Private Label - Olive Oil Times

Woolworths Agrees to Offer Kailis Organic Olive Oil Under Private Label

By Denise Johnson
Jan. 24, 2012 09:36 UTC

The receivers han­dling the Kailis Organic Olive Groves have secured a deal with Australia’s largest super­mar­ket chain in the final weeks before for­mal bids for the com­pa­ny’s assets are sealed.

Woolworths has agreed to stock the failed com­pa­ny’s organic extra vir­gin olive oil as part of its pri­vate label Macro Wholefoods Market” range.

According to a report in Financial Review, up to 40 prospec­tive buy­ers have sifted through the books of Kailis Organic, includ­ing at least one American firm. The price will likely be in the $20 mil­lion range.

The assets include 3,900 hectares of free­hold land, 1,800 hectares of olive plan­ta­tions, two pro­cess­ing facil­i­ties, long-term water licenses, stor­age facil­i­ties, plants and equip­ment.

Meanwhile, Peter Kailis, the founder of the Red Rooster restau­rant chain and the father of the olive oil com­pa­ny’s founder, Mark Kailis, is seek­ing in the case of a sale $1 mil­lion he lent the busi­ness. But before he’s repaid there’s a claim of report­edly up to $20 mil­lion made by cred­i­tor Westpac Banking Corporation.

The sale’s tim­ing could­n’t be much worse as the global olive oil cri­sis grinds on with prices paid to pro­duc­ers skid­ding along his­toric lows.

The receivers are seek­ing to sell the com­pany before this year’s April olive har­vest.

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