`Administrators Take Control of Failed Olive Oil Producer Kailis Organic - Olive Oil Times

Administrators Take Control of Failed Olive Oil Producer Kailis Organic

By Charlie Higgins
Nov. 23, 2011 17:56 UTC

James Thackray and Shaun Fraser of McGrathNichol have been appointed admin­is­tra­tors of organic olive oil pro­ducer Kailis Organic. The com­pany, led by Mark Kailis of Western Australia’s dynas­tic Kailis fam­ily, failed to raise enough work­ing cap­i­tal to main­tain oper­a­tions after suf­fer­ing major losses this year.

In a bid to become an organic olive oil pro­ducer on a global scale, Kailis Organic sought an ini­tial pub­lic offer­ing of AUD30 mil­lion ($30.2 mil­lion) last year to acquire failed Australian agribusi­ness Great Southern and add 4,500 acres to their exist­ing hold­ings.

The offer­ing did not pro­ceed but the com­pany did raise AUD25.5 mil­lion through pri­vate and fam­ily investors, enough to solid­ify the acqui­si­tion.

In October of 2010, Mark Kailis stated con­fi­dently that Kailis Organic was posi­tioned to be a major organic trader on the world mar­ket.” At the time, the com­pany was sell­ing to more than 250 retail out­lets in Australia, with exports in seven coun­tries includ­ing Germany.

In June, 2010 Kailis told Olive Oil Times, With increased pro­duc­tion comes increased economies of scale. The Premium Range will undergo prod­uct exten­sion and re-launch, com­pet­i­tively posi­tioned and attrac­tive to more mar­kets both domes­tic and inter­na­tional.”

Despite these promis­ing signs, Kailis Organic posted a $3.4 mil­lion loss for the 2009-10 year and has since failed to raise the money needed to sus­tain the busi­ness. The com­pany cur­rently owes about $2 mil­lion to unse­cured cred­i­tors, includ­ing employ­ees, sup­plies and share­hold­ers. Newly appointed admin­is­tra­tors Thackray and Fraser expect to find a buyer.

A meet­ing will be held on November 28 to deter­mine the future of Kailis Organic and decide whether or not to retain McGrathNichol as admin­is­tra­tors.

This is a break­ing news arti­cle. Check back for updates.



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