Soho gets lease of life
Investors in the troubled Soho lemon investment scheme have voted to continue with it and commissioned a study to look at expanding the scheme.
Australian Rural Group managing director Peter Flude says there was a unanimous vote at the investor meeting in Brisbane late last month to continue. ARG has now been appointed the permanent responsible entity.
"The investors have asked us to look at increasing the size of the scheme in line with the original prospectus," Flude says. "The present size of the scheme is marginally viable."
To be viable, Flude estimates the scheme will have to expand to 25,000 trees. The company hopes to complete the feasibility study by next February. An expanded scheme will probably be offered only to the original 90 investors, he says.
The land the trees are planted on is not owned by the investors. The Victorian property is owned by companies associated with the Soho scheme founders Peter Russell Clarke and Egon Grossberg.
Suncorp Metway has a mortgage over the land and Flude says ARG is negotiating with them to secure a lease on the land.
"Our job is to get a lease for the project as there wasn't one in the past," he says. "We are now trying to talk to Suncorp about a lease."
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.
