Timbercorp's $100 million almond crop will be pollinated this week after a banking syndicate led by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group stepped in with the $3.4 million required to finance 1.6 billion bees.
The Australian Financial Review reports that about 50,000 beehives are being trucked to Robinvale in north-west Victoria in a last-minute bid to save the valuable crop, which has been in doubt as Timbercorp liquidator KordaMentha grappled to find the money.
Timbercorp went into administration on April 23, buckling under $903 million in debt and leaving 18,300 people with $2 billion invested in a range of agricultural projects in limbo.
ANZ provided $2.7 million of the $3.4 million required to fund the almond crop pollination, while Westpac and the Bank of Scotland provided the balance.
"Without pollination, the 2010 crop worth approximately $100 million is at risk and subsequent crops may also have been affected," KordaMentha principal Mark Korda said.
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