Retailer Harvey Norman’s investment in the dairy company Coomboona Holdings has soured as it moved into receivership last Friday.
The news comes after its chairman Gerry Harvey went under fire at Harvey Norman’s half-year result last month over a $20.7 million impairment on the business. Analysts questioned the wisdom of the joint venture investment.
Harvey Norman said in a statement its wholly owned subsidiary, HNM Galaxy, which controls a 49.9 per cent stake in Coomboona, appointed Ryan Eagle and Stewart McCallum of Ferrier Hodgson.
After moving into the hands of administrators, National Australia Bank appointed Peter McKenzie Anderson, William James Harris and Matthew Wayne Caddy of McGrarth Nicol as the receivers and managers of Coomboona.
Harvey Norman’s interim net profit declined by nearly 20 per cent to $208 million last month, partly due to its impairment on Coomboona. At the time Harvey, a director in Coomboona, said the dairy business was a good investment that the market had misjudged.
