Beleaguered Blue Sky Alternative Investments hopes to grab a lifeline from Oaktree Capital

STRUGGLING Brisbane funds manager Blue Sky Alternative Investments confirmed speculation yesterday that it was in talks with an LA-based investment management firm.

Blue Sky Alternative Investments boss Kim Morison.

BELEAGUERED Blue Sky Alternative Investments hopes to grab a lifeline from the world’s biggest investor in distressed assets.

The struggling Brisbane funds manager, now headed by Kim Morison, confirmed speculation yesterday that it was in talks with Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management.

Oaktree is a global heavy hitter, with more than $US120 billion in assets under management and a client base that includes 75 of the 100 biggest pension funds in America.

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Group chairman Howard Marks is widely regarded as an extremely savvy and opportunistic punter who chases untapped value in the alternative investments space.

Notably, he also has a track record Down Under, where Oaktree previously held stakes in Nine Entertainment and Billabong.

Blue Sky cautioned yesterday that there was “no certainty’’ about a deal eventuating with Oaktree and confirmed that it was considering proposals from other unnamed parties.

The negotiations follow the collapse of Blue Sky’s share price since late March and an external review of its 89 funds prompted by a savage critique of the business from US short-seller Glaucus.

PLANS SCRAPPED

SPEAKING of companies doing it tough, Retail Food Group has ditched plans to build a spiffy new global headquarters. The embattled Gold Coast-based outfit is now selling a property it had acquired on Southport Nerang Road at Molendinar just two years ago.

Back then former RFG boss Tony Alford vowed to build “a world-class facility’’ on the 24,000sq m site which once housed The Gold Coast Bulletin.

But RFG’s sunny outlook has dimmed significantly since then and it has already offloaded three sites for $8.1 million after putting them on the market late last year.

The group, which includes Brumby’s Bakeries, Pizza Capers, Donut King and Gloria Jean’s Coffees, is still the nation’s biggest multibrand food franchisor.

But the share price has nosedived almost 90 per cent over concerns about debt levels, profitability and alleged underpayment of workers.

The worst is not yet over. RFG has flagged a net loss of nearly $88 million for the last financial year.

REEF PROTEST TRIP

THEY made a name for themselves confronting Japanese whaling ships in the Southern Ocean.

But the environmental diehards at Sea Shepherd Australia are now turning their focus on to the ultimate lightning rod for greenie protesters, Adani’s $16.5 billion Carmichael megamine.

The group is taking their ship, the Steve Irwin, slowly up the Queensland coast as part of what they have dubbed “Operation Reef Defence’’.

The boat is expected to stop in Brisbane for two days starting on Sunday and reach Abbot Point by August 8.

City Beat wondered if the crew intended to physically challenge the enormous coal ships leaving port but Sea Shepherd spin doctor Adam Burling told us there were no plans to do so “at this stage’’.

“We’re not always about conflict. It’s mostly the last resort,’’ he assured us.

Rather, Burling said, the trip up the coast is part of the group’s work with the Stop Adani Alliance and is intended primarily to raise awareness about the alleged threats posed by the mine.

To that end, the public is welcome to check out the Steve Irwin at its scheduled stops along the way.

Adani confirmed earlier this month that it had finally stitched up funding for the long-stalled project.

But Sea Shepherd chief Jeff Hansen remains undeterred. “We cannot allow Adani’s climate catastrophe coal mine to proceed,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, New Hope is seeking $427,000 in damages against a couple of protesters who chained themselves to equipment to stop the coal train from the Acland mine near Oakey.

We hear the activists are pretty pumped up about causing such financial pain for just a few hours of civil disobedience.