For the past few months, I've been watching with interest as an attempted business turnaround takes place in Australia. The company in question is Elders Ltd., a venerated agrobusiness that has fallen on hard times. Elders provides a suite of services to Australia's rural wool and beef industries and farmers, including animal feed, wool trading, live export, and financial services. Elders' lengthy history began in 1839, when Alexander Lang Elder traveled from Scotland to the new colony of Australia to expand his family's merchant empire. The business took off, and over the next several decades Elders expanded into mining, wool trading, banking, brewing and other businesses. Elders underwent multiple restructurings, ownership changes and name changes, but finally returned to the public markets in 1993. Elders spent the 1990s and 2000s expanding some divisions and divesting others, but generally growing its balance sheet and taking on debt in the process.
One for the Watchlist - Elders Ltd.
One for the Watchlist - Elders Ltd.
One for the Watchlist - Elders Ltd.
For the past few months, I've been watching with interest as an attempted business turnaround takes place in Australia. The company in question is Elders Ltd., a venerated agrobusiness that has fallen on hard times. Elders provides a suite of services to Australia's rural wool and beef industries and farmers, including animal feed, wool trading, live export, and financial services. Elders' lengthy history began in 1839, when Alexander Lang Elder traveled from Scotland to the new colony of Australia to expand his family's merchant empire. The business took off, and over the next several decades Elders expanded into mining, wool trading, banking, brewing and other businesses. Elders underwent multiple restructurings, ownership changes and name changes, but finally returned to the public markets in 1993. Elders spent the 1990s and 2000s expanding some divisions and divesting others, but generally growing its balance sheet and taking on debt in the process.