SA Harness Racing Club appoints receiver to GIC Globe Derby Park over outstanding $2.5m debt
South Australia’s peak harness racing club – facing deregistration over its dire financial situation – has put a property developer into receivership over a $2.5m debt.
SA News
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The cash-strapped SA Harness Racing Club has put a developer which owes it $2.5m for land at Globe Derby Park into receivership.
Chartered accountants BRI Ferrier have been appointed to seize the assets of GIC Globe Derby Park Pty Ltd after repeated failures by its director, Michael Vidale, to repay the debt.
The money has been outstanding since 2018, when the club’s committee approved a $5.5m deal which saw Mr Vidale acquire land on the corner of Globe Derby Dve and Port Wakefield Rd without paying the full amount.
Mr Vidale has responded to the receivership by offering to buy more land at Globe Derby Park for $4.2m through another one of his companies, GIC Major Projects.
In a letter to official receiver Andre Strazdins, Mr Vidale said he wanted to purchase another 18,415sq m from the club, which is facing deregistration over its financial problems.
Three new committee members quit in protest last week after the club negotiated a $3.5m loan at 12 per cent with a Queensland developer, with all of its assets at Globe Derby Park put up as security.
In his letter to Mr Strazdins on October 19, Mr Vidale said GIC Major Projects was “currently working with Bank SA Business Banking on two large commercial projects in Adelaide”.
Mr Vidale said he was discussing finance for the other land he wanted to commercially develop at Globe Derby Park with Bank SA.
“GIC has had a close involvement with Bank SA Business Banking for the past 18 years with an unblemished track record,” he said.
The letter followed a meeting between Mr Strazdins and Mr Vidale, where he was asked for an “exit strategy” before the land he bought from the club was seized and sold.
In a letter to the club’s lawyer, Lisa Harrison, Mr Strazdins said he was obtaining three appraisals from commercial real estate agents and was working with the company which had lent money to GIC Globe Derby Park to buy the land.
Mr Strazdins said he had talked to Mr Vidale about his attempt to buy more land through GIC Major Projects.
“Vidale was requested to provide a proposal not requiring any further property as security or increasing SAHRC exposure,” he said.
“In effect, the proposal by Vidale is for a refinance by Bank SA. It is subject to conditions that will require negotiation so that they are to the benefit of SAHRC, not Vidale as presently worded.”
Contacted for comment, Mr Vidale said GIC Major Projects had “presented an imminent solution to SAHRC for financial settlement”.
“We look forward to finalising the transaction and commencing the project in earnest,” he said.