Allied Nationwide into receivership

Allied Farmers managing director Rob Alloway Photo / Dean Purcell

Allied Nationwide Finance (ANF), the finance arm of Allied Farmers Ltd, has collapsed into receivership after missing a payment on debenture securities yesterday.

ANF is covered by the Crown deposit guarantee scheme.

The events unfolded during the day but ultimately ANF advised that its directors decided this afternoon to request that its trustee, New Zealand Guardian Trust (NZGT), appoint receivers.

NZGT said it will appoint Kerryn Downey and Andrew Grenfell of McGrathNicol as receivers.

McGrathNicol has been acting as independent advisers to NZGT and prepared a report on ANF, which resulted in the alleged breach of its trust deed ratio earlier this month.

"The board and management of ANF will cooperate fully with the receiver in the interests of all stakeholders of the company, including deposit and bond investors, staff, customers and Allied Farmers as shareholder," the company said in a statement to NZX.

ANF said expects an "acceptable outcome" from the receivership on the basis of its current net asset position and level of shareholder funds.

Allied Farmers' shares were earlier placed on a trading halt ahead of the announcement.

Allied Farmers said earlier today that ANF missed a payment of debenture maturities due yesterday.

ANF said it expected to complete an initial transaction today that would result in the payment of debenture maturities now due.

Allied Farmers has suspended a planned capital raising and ANF has suspended its prospectus while it sorts out a disputed breach of its trust deed with NZGT, which gave ANF 14 days, until 5pm today, to remedy the position.

The board and management of ANF did not agree with NZGT's view and believed that ANF was in compliance with the relevant ratio. Despite that, Allied Farmers said it was working to address the matters raised by the trustee.

ANF said that up to yesterday, it had continued to meet all its financial obligations, including repayment of maturing debentures.

But as the capital and funding initiatives under consideration by the Allied group needed third party commitments and NZGT approvals, which had not been received by last night, it did not pay the debenture maturities due yesterday, ANF said.

- NZPA