Ferrier Hodgson advertised yesterday for buyers for Great Southern Timber Holdings and Great Southern Infrastructure, which were the only subsidiaries out of 29 offshoots that creditors chose not to place in liquidation earlier this month.

Great Southern Timber has rights over 14,000 hectares of plantation timber, while Great Southern Infrastructure owns a pulp facility and a 50 per cent stake in a woodmill, both in Western Australia.

The creditors voted to give Ferriers another 45 business days to see if the two companies could be sold before meeting again and deciding whether they should be wound up.

Great Southern, which ran as many as 45 managed investment schemes covering cattle, pulpwood, almonds and vineyards, was placed in administration and subsequently receivership in May owing its bankers $600 million.

More than $1.8 billion was raised from its investor growers to help fund it schemes. The group's receivers, McGrathNicol, have been selling off assets under their control to repay as much as possible to Great Southern's lenders.

The receivers gained support just before Christmas to bring in Gunns as the new manager of eight forestry plantation schemes in a deal that prevented them from going under.

However, those moves will be of little benefit to other creditors whose claims against the group are facing a $223 million deficiency over the amount of assets said to be available once other liabilities are taken into account.