Shareholders are likely to get back less than half their investment in Rural Portfolio Capital and Rural Portfolio Investments, according to receivers.
The investment companies, jointly owned by Dunedin's McConnon Family and Craig Norgate, may yet face liquidation, according to a receiver, Kerryn Downey, of McGrathNicol.
In a joint letter to shareholders, Mr Downey and Trustees Executors regional manager Yogesh Mody said the sale of shares and cash on hand had allowed receivers to make an interim payment of 47c a share to holders of redeemable preference shares.
But he warned that even if funds were realised from unsecured guarantees and placing the companies in liquidation, an additional payment may be worth less than 1.25c a share.
"The trustee will pursue legal claims where it considers there is a realistic prospect of a return to the investors," the letter said.
Mr Downey said the terms of the security trust deed did not specifically permit the distribution of assets to investors, and the trustees and receivers both sought legal opinions on this option.
To pursue this option would have been time consuming and costly, requiring a shareholder meeting, they said.
"In the trustee's view, there appeared to be no investor consensus with respect to an asset distribution, hence the outcome of any meeting would be uncertain while the costs of the process would have been totally borne by the investors."
Rural Portfolio Capital and Rural Portfolio Investments were placed in receivership by the trustee in early May after conceding they could not meet the terms of their security trust deed, which stated they must pre-fund at each six-month dividend payment date the next dividend payable to investors.
The receivers have sold 46.8 million shares in PGG Wrightson at 52c each, 10 million shares in New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay for 41c each, and released cash held in the dividend escrow account.
