Investors in three of Timbercorp’s managed investment schemes for mangoes and avocados have dismissed KordaMentha as the manager of the projects over dissatisfaction with the way the administrator was handling them.

KordaMentha was appointed to manage the projects last month, after agribusiness investment giant Timbercorp went into administration with millions of dollars of debt.

But grower investors have now removed KordaMentha from control over the projects amid fears it may shut them down, and they have appointed Huntley Management to manage the schemes in the hope that it will keep them operating while the crops are harvested and sold.

The three mango and avocado orchards are spread across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales – and Huntley Management will now manage them for a flat fee.

According to the Australian Financial Review, some 642 investors have a ploughed a total of A$34m into the projects.

The group representing Timbercorp’s grower-investors hopes KordaMentha will be removed as the responsible entity for more of Timbercorp’s 41 managed investment schemes.

While investors acknowledge that the Timbercorp entities that control the schemes are insolvent, they believe the projects themselves are remain viable, and they’re seeking the appointment of an independent responsible entity to allow them to vote on the future of such schemes.

The future of Timbercorp’s timber, olive and almond MIS schemes is set to be decided in court next month.

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