COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT / MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday, 17 February 2005
Great Southern to Acquire Sylvatech Limited and Assets of
Environinvest Limited
Great Southern Plantations Limited (ASX Code GTP) is pleased to announce its intention to
make a takeover bid for Sylvatech Limited and at the same time acquire certain assets
from Environinvest Limited. Both Sylvatech Limited and Environinvest
Limited are public, unlisted agribusiness MIS companies and these strategic acquisitions
will provide Great Southern with an increased and diversified land bank and result in
further diversification of Great Southern’s established managed investment scheme
offerings that will provide further growth opportunities to the group.
Further details in respect of the acquisitions are set out below.
Acquisition of Sylvatech Limited (Sylvatech)
Great Southern has entered into an agreement (Pre-Bid Agreement) with Sylvatech
Limited under which Great Southern has agreed to acquire all of the fully paid ordinary
shares in Sylvatech for $0.902 cash per share (the Offer), valuing Sylvatech’s fully diluted
equity at $50 million.
Sylvatech is an unlisted public company involved in the development and management of
forestry projects on the Tiwi Islands. The Sylvatech acquisition will provide Great
Southern access to extensive plantation land for future projects at a significant discount to
current market prices for land in Great Southern’s traditional plantation regions.
Further details of Sylvatech and the impact of the acquisition on Great Southern are
contained in the investor presentation to be released today. The proposal will proceed by
way of an off market takeover bid. The directors of Sylvatech currently intend to
recommend that Sylvatech shareholders…
GSP 2005 Annual report
Firstly, Great Southern acquired Sylvatech Limited, a public, unlisted agribusiness managed investment scheme
company. Sylvatech is involved in the development and management of forestry projects on the Tiwi Islands in the
Northern Territory. The acquisition not only provides Great Southern access to extensive plantation land for future
projects at a significant discount to current market prices for land in Great Southern’s traditional plantation regions, it
also involves us embarking on a relationship with the Tiwi Island people. The project currently involves some
33,000 hectares of leasehold property on a 30 year term with an option for another 30 years, and an option to enter
further leases for up to a potential 50,000 hectares of land. The purchase price was reduced after the advent
of Cyclone Ingrid, which caused damage to plantations on the island – however, Great Southern has now managed to
secure insurance to cover similar events should they occur in the future. This land represents a valuable resource for
Great Southern, which is likely to represent a capital saving to the company of about $40 million annually over the
next 8 years. Because of the size of its plantation projects Great Southern is uniquely placed to use the
Tiwi land in a balanced portfolio which will see it account for about 20% of expected plantings in future years.
John Young, GSP Managing Director, Managing Director’s Message, GSP Annual Report 2005, page 10
FROM Great Southern Plantation Ltd website 2005:
“Great Southern has reached agreement to acquire the businesses of two unlisted, agribusiness
MIS companies
– Sylvatech Limited by takeover for total consideration of ~$50 m
– Acquisition of the assets of Environinvest Limited for total consideration of ~$60 m
“The acquisitions will
 Provide Great Southern with an increased and diversified land bank
 Total area of up to 100,000 ha of long leasehold land (30 yr lease + 30 yr option) on Melville
and Bathurst Islands, NT (~60km north of Darwin)
Result in further diversification of established MIS product offerings.
…

“Sylvatech is a developer and manager of forestry projects in Tiwi Islands
• Key benefits include flat land, excellent rainfall (1,800mmpa), good conditions and short land
haulage & shipping to Asia
• Potential to speed up land use and draw on 85,000 gross ha
• Established infrastructure in place with 30yr lease +30 yr option for port with plans for
expansion
• Pine logs and eucalypts resulting from plantation establishment operations are shipped to
China, Vietnam and Indonesia for sale under contract and will total up to 200,000 tpa from
2005
...
“The acquisition of Sylvatech will provide a number of strategic benefits to Great Southern
– Low cost source of land
– Potential to access further land on Tiwi Islands for plantation purposes
– Further geographic diversification of plantations
– Diversification of plantation species
– Low haulage rates due to location near port infrastructure
– Proximity to Asian customers reduces shipping costs
– Benefits from consolidated distribution network
– Elimination of duplicated administrative expenses
– Closer working relationship with the Federal Government”