Turnaround Elders shares up as buyers circle

After a Fairfax Media report that Pacific Equity Partners was running a ruler over the beleaguered rural services outfit Elders, its chief executive Mark Allison has confirmed interested parties have been looking.

But the Australian Financial Review Street Talk column noted no formal offer had gone to the board.

The live export group Wellard and Asian investors are also understood to be looking at the 175-year-old Adelaide-based rural services business.

Mr Allison told the AFR the outsiders were looking as Elders was getting to the point of "a turnaround".

Since the 2008 global financial crisis Elders has been selling assets to try to pay down its debt burden.

At the May half-year result Elders reported an underlying half-year profit of $6.7 million compared with a $23.7 million loss the year before.

Mr Allison, who took on the CEO role in April.

Last year Elders rival Ruralco, which owns about 12% of Elders, made an unsuccessful bid.

Elders told the ASX on Tuesday that “Elders has recently received a number of informal, incomplete and confidential approaches from several parties, proposing participation by those parties in the affairs of the company,” the company said.

Elders shares were up almost 7% after the Tuesday morning report, but eased during the afternoon trading at 23.5¢, up 4.4% for the day.

The stock which touched a low of 10 cents in April was trading today as high as 24 cents.