The previously undisclosed sale price for the factory has emerged in a statutory report to creditors by ODFA liquidator Ivan Glavas, who, along with Scott Andersen, was appointed to the organic milk processing company in May this year.
ODFA was placed in administration by the company’s directors on May 15, with debts of about $23.7 million, including $7.7 million to NAB.
Mr Glavas and Mr Andersen told creditors earlier this year ODFA failed due to falling demand for organic milk forcing a surplus to be sold at lower conventional milk prices and delays in the completion of joint venture Corio Bay Dairy Group’s spray dryer plant adjacent to the ODFA processing plant.
Corio Bay Dairy Group was a joint venture partnership with Wattle Health Australia and Niche Dairy, building the spray dryer for organic milk infant formula.
On May 22, NAB appointed Tim Norman and Sal Algeri, of Deloitte, as joint receiver managers of ODFA over the top of Mr Glavas and Mr Andersen to protect the bank’s interests.
Mr Norman and Mr Algeri began a sale of ODFA’s assets to repay the bank’s debt, eventually selling the business to Remarkable Milk Company in August.
The receivers were required to report back to the liquidators, who by law, must act in all creditors’ interests, — in this case, 141 unsecured creditors owed more than $15 million.
Mr Glavas said the net receipts from the sale of the ODFA factory and other assets by the receivers were $7.74 million, of which NAB received $7 million.
“NAB has received $7 million from the realisation of the co-op’s assets, resulting in a substantial reduction in its debt,” he said in his report.
“Whilst NAB is expected to sustain a shortfall, the precise amount will not be known until the receiver managers retire.”
The receiver managers were not expected to complete their work until early February.
Mr Glavas said there was unlikely to be a distribution to the 141 unsecured creditors of ODFA.
Meanwhile, in a report lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission last week, CBDG claimed it paid $6 million to ODFA about the time the co-operative was placed into administration.
CBDG was the biggest unsecured creditor of ODFA.
Ironically, CBDG was placed in voluntary administration on August 21 with debts as high as $50 million.
Its biggest creditor was Wattle Health Australia, which was owed more than $42 million.
CBDG failed when WHA could not muster the $20 million required to complete the spray dryer plant in North Geelong.
A meeting of CBDG creditors is to be held on Thursday, with the administrators recommending liquidation of the company.
