Great Southern postpones restructure
Great Southern’s share price has fallen significantly in the past month, with unprecedented volatility in global financial markets and its largest shareholder, Ospraie Group, deciding to close its flagship hedge fund and sell down investments over the next three years.
As a result, the company has postponed plans for a major restructure of the business, which aimed to reposition the company with three separate streams of forestry, agricultural investment services, and cattle business.
The program ‘Project Transform’ intended to combine the company’s key asset — high value agricultural land — with the tree and cattle assets of managed investment schemes, thus creating a “more sustainable, transparent, and valuable business for all stakeholders that would become less susceptible to regulator uncertainty”.
Any changes to the proposals will need to be presented to the independent directors of Great Southern. The project approvals by shareholders and investors are likely to be deferred to later in the year.
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
