MAJOR cattle producer, the Holmes à Court owned and Perth-based Heytesbury Group, has lifted its investment in Livestock shipping company Wellard Ltd from 11.42 per cent to 14.63pc of its issued shares.
The move is being seen by some live export industry pundits as an endorsement by a knowledgeable and well-credentialed shareholder of Wellard's debt restructure, which included the $89.8 million sale of its biggest and newest ship Ocean Shearer to Kuwaiti Livestock Transport and Trading in April to clear debts.
Neither company has made a statement, but the increased shareholding was revealed on Tuesday when Wellard lodged a form 604 with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The form shows Heytesbury, under Paul Holmes à Court, on Monday paid $681,771.64 for an additional 17,044,291 fully paid ordinary shares in Wellard.
This lifted Heytesbury's total Wellard holding to 77,736,853 shares, giving Mr Holmes à Court on behalf of Heytesbury 14.63pc of voting rights, according to the form lodged with the ASX.
Also in Tuesday, Wellard notified the ASX of a change of registered office and principal place of business to Manning Buildings, High Street, Fremantle.
The company was previously located in Pakenham Street, Fremantle.
Heytesbury Group includes the Heytesbury Cattle Co which runs six cattle stations spanning 2.7 million hectares across the East Kimberley and adjacent Northern Territory region.
These include Victoria River Downs and adjacent Moolooloo, Pigeon Hole and Mount Sanford stations, as well as Birrindudu-Wallamunga, in the Northern Territory.
It also runs the former Kimberley pastoral holdings of British beef baron Lord Vestey, comprising the Flora Valley, Nicholson and Gordon Downs aggregation.
Heytesbury Cattle Co runs a herd of about 165,000 Brahman cattle and turns off up to 40,000 head a year.
Previously a private company operating as Australia's biggest live sheep and cattle exporter, Wellard was floated on the ASX in 2015.
Earlier this year shareholders launched a class action against Wellard alleging performance forecasts in its prospectus for the 2015 float were misleading to investors.
