Adgemis's $1.5bn debt a ‘complete furphy' says lender
Adelaide-based Angas Securities stepped in last April to seize the apartment building on Campbell Pde, which formed part of Adgemis's $68.5m purchase of the Noah's Backpackers site in June, 2022.
And now, in a bizarre turn of events, the lender thinks Adgemis's grand plan for the site would be of mutual benefit — meaning the old backpackers could be the troubled dealmaker's golden goose.
Andrew Luckhurst-Smith, the Angas Securities' executive chairman, says they're planning to sell the seized apartment block in a spring campaign, and he's hoping creditors will back Adgemis's plan for Noah's, now known as South Bondi Hotel, at a meeting on Friday.
The move comes as another lender repossessed Adgemis's mother's home, preparing that for sale.
'Best ever' Bondi penthouse set to smash records
Adgemis, who heads Public Hospitality Group, will face creditors at Friday's meeting, who will decide whether to bankrupt the 46-year-old or or accept a small contribution of the money they're owed.
Along with upgrading the rooms, making the former backpacker rooms bigger with ensuites, he has plans for the public areas of the hotel.
'Jon's going to put in a rooftop bar overlooking Bondi Beach — that's well advanced,' Mr Luckhurst-Smith said.
'Deutsche Bank and an intermediary trustee hold the mortgage — that's where the money is coming from and Jon's in charge.
'It's a structured deal, Jon's still a director and if his arrangement gets up on Friday it will be able to proceed.'
His bankruptcy trustees recently claimed that Adgemis owed $1.5bn and had just $3.79 in the bank along with three luxury vehicles, a wardrobe of expensive clothes and two pieces of art.
'I'm not particularly impressed with the way they chose this massive number ... he doesn't have $1.bn in debt, that's a complete furphy,' Mr Luckhurst-Smith said.
'His gross debt may be that, but that's not taking into account all of the properties he owns.
'Whether it's $1.bn, $2.5bn, $3.5bn or $4.5bn, if his creditors accept his proposition it's all gone — that's the way the bankruptcy rules work,' Mr Luckhurst-Smith said.
He added that Angus Securities has recently spent money on improving security and safety at the apartment building, along with making improvements to the ground-floor shop.
'It is our intention to put the property up for sale this spring,' he said.
'At the moment, Jon Adgemis is in the press every day, but hopefully over the next two to three months that will have died down.
'I'm just hoping that after this last burst of interest it will have to fade and we'll get down to a serious property transaction.'
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Who will pay a 75 per cent deposit to bring Canadian canola to China? It is like telling Canada that we don't need your canola, thank you very much," one Singapore-based oilseed trader said. China imposed tariffs on canola oil and meal in March. Canada is now in a trade conflict with the world's two largest economies, as it also faces tariffs on goods from the United States. Canada's number one canola market is the US, followed by China. China's Ministry of Commerce said an anti-dumping probe launched in September 2024 had found that Canada's agricultural sector - particularly the canola industry - had benefited from substantial government subsidies and preferential policies. The Canadian government and canola industry have previously rejected allegations of dumping. The industry believes China's complaint is based on other ongoing trade and political disputes, Davison said. A final ruling could result in a different rate, or overturn Tuesday's decision. The decision marks a shift from the conciliatory tone struck in June when China Premier Li Qiang said there were no deep-seated conflicts of interest between the countries during a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. "This move ... will put additional pressure on Canada's government to sort through trade frictions with China," said Trivium China agriculture analyst Even Rogers Pay. Canada's trade, agriculture and prime minister's office did not immediately respond to request for comment. Canada has imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminium. Separately, China also launched an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian pea starch and imposed provisional duties on imports of halogenated butyl rubber, according to ministry statements. Replacing millions of tons of Canadian canola is likely to be difficult at short notice, analysts say. China uses imported canola to make animal feed for its aquaculture sector, as well as for cooking oil. The move provides an opportunity for Australia, which looks set to regain access to the Chinese market with test cargoes this year after a years-long freeze in the trade, Pay said. Australia, the second-largest canola exporter, has been shut out of the Chinese market since 2020 due mainly to Chinese rules to stop the spread of fungal plant disease. However, even if Australian imports increase, "fully replacing Canadian canola will be very difficult unless import demand drops sharply," said Donatas Jankauskas, an analyst with commodity data firm CM Navigator. Davison said his industry believes China will need Canada's canola to meet the sort of demand it has experienced in recent years. "I think the expectation would be that they could not meet those needs with a quality of a product and the volume that we provide," Davison said. Canadian farmers are about to begin harvesting canola and will not be happy to see prices plunge, Canadian Canola Growers Association president Rick White said. As long as the prohibitive duty is there farmers face suppressed prices. "It's going to certainly have a damping effect on price for farmers and they're going to be stuck with that," White said. China has announced preliminary anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola imports in a new escalation in the year-long trade dispute that began with Canada's imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports last August. The provisional rate will be set at 75.8 per cent, effective from Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. Canola Council of Canada president Chris Davison said that rate makes the Chinese market effectively closed for Canadian canola, to which Canada exported about C$5 billion ($A5.60 billion) of the oilseed crop in 2024. ICE November canola futures fell as much as 6.5 per cent to a four-month low after the announcement. "This really came as a surprise and a shock," trader Tony Tryhuk of RBC Dominion Securities said. China, the world's largest importer of canola which is also known as rapeseed, sources nearly all its supplies of the product from Canada. The steep duties would likely all but end imports if they are maintained. "This is huge. Who will pay a 75 per cent deposit to bring Canadian canola to China? It is like telling Canada that we don't need your canola, thank you very much," one Singapore-based oilseed trader said. China imposed tariffs on canola oil and meal in March. Canada is now in a trade conflict with the world's two largest economies, as it also faces tariffs on goods from the United States. Canada's number one canola market is the US, followed by China. 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Canada's trade, agriculture and prime minister's office did not immediately respond to request for comment. Canada has imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminium. Separately, China also launched an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian pea starch and imposed provisional duties on imports of halogenated butyl rubber, according to ministry statements. Replacing millions of tons of Canadian canola is likely to be difficult at short notice, analysts say. China uses imported canola to make animal feed for its aquaculture sector, as well as for cooking oil. The move provides an opportunity for Australia, which looks set to regain access to the Chinese market with test cargoes this year after a years-long freeze in the trade, Pay said. Australia, the second-largest canola exporter, has been shut out of the Chinese market since 2020 due mainly to Chinese rules to stop the spread of fungal plant disease. However, even if Australian imports increase, "fully replacing Canadian canola will be very difficult unless import demand drops sharply," said Donatas Jankauskas, an analyst with commodity data firm CM Navigator. Davison said his industry believes China will need Canada's canola to meet the sort of demand it has experienced in recent years. "I think the expectation would be that they could not meet those needs with a quality of a product and the volume that we provide," Davison said. Canadian farmers are about to begin harvesting canola and will not be happy to see prices plunge, Canadian Canola Growers Association president Rick White said. As long as the prohibitive duty is there farmers face suppressed prices. "It's going to certainly have a damping effect on price for farmers and they're going to be stuck with that," White said.
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Grand opening: After a five-year wait Perenjori finally has its own supermarket again
After five years of being forced to do a 100km round trip to do their grocery shopping, Perenjori locals have celebrated the long-awaited opening of their new supermarket. Perenjori Supermarket opened its doors on Friday, with a ceremony and guest speakers followed by a community barbecue. The town's supermarket closed in 2018, forcing residents to travel to Morawa — a 100km return trip — to collect their groceries. The building was then destroyed by cyclone Seroja in 2021. The shire then bought the site after the building was demolished. Construction of the new supermarket started late last year, with Perth-based construction company Breffini Group in charge of the $4 million project. On its Facebook page, the Shire of Perenjori thanked everyone for attending the opening: 'It was a fantastic turnout and we are thrilled to have this magnificent facility in our town,' it said. Durack MP Melissa Price spoke at the opening and congratulated the shire for making this happen. 'It's the little big things that count in our regional towns. Like a supermarket,' she said. 'Judging by the crowd (at the opening), the locals aren't taking this new important community hub for granted.' Nationals WA leader and Mid-West MLA Shane Love was also at the opening and remarked on the 'great vibe in town'. 'This is a project built from pure community spirit, supported by $500,000 Cyclone Seroja Resilience funding,' he said. Perenjori shire president Jude Sutherland previously said it was vital for rural communities to have access to services like a supermarket. 'Attracting new families, businesses, staff for the town is important, and it's very difficult to attract people without services like this,' she said. 'It creates a community hub, and links all the businesses in the main street.' The council funded the project through its reserves, grants and a loan.
