The McVilly Timber business has sold at auction for $2.15 million. That is the headquarters at Terang and branches at Timboon, Beaufort and Mumbannar. Source: The Standard
The sale attracted interest from two key bidders after starting with a lowly bid of $200,000. Auctioneer Shane McIntyre drew a further 30 bids before dropping the hammer.
The successful bid came from undisclosed local investors already involved in the timber business.
Elders Camperdown agent Rob Rickard said it was such an unusual offering that it was difficult to set a price expectation.
“I didn’t have a great gauge on where it would start and where it would end,” Mr Rickard said.
“It has been a very good business well known across a wide geographical area.” The business, which supplies treated pine, was started by self-made Terang entrepreneur Barry McVilly in 1975 and grew to encompass seven sites, with a customer base across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.
Mr McVilly, 75, later branched out into many other ventures including quarter horses, the Burong Equestrian Centre at Winchelsea, as well as deer and bison farming, acquiring about a dozen properties across the state.
The business was rationalised in 2011, shedding less profitable sites, including the Warrnambool premises at the corner of Raglan Parade and Rooneys Road. It was sold with all plant and equipment.
