Allan Crafar is refusing do go down without a fight. The former owner of the Crafar Farm empire says he is now in discussions with overseas banks, to pay back his debt of $256 million, and wrest back control of his farms from the receivers.

Alan Crafar says his plan has always been to get his farms back, and he’s had to go overseas because the local banks “aren’t much use to him”.

“I mean they let me down. That’s what happened, these banks here let us down.”

Alan Crafar has the right to take back control of the farms, provided he repays the debt, and the costs associated with the receivers.

He says he’s in discussions with other banks too, because he doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket:

“I tried that with the local banks, put the eggs in three baskets, but all the baskets had a hole in the bottom”

It is understood an Indian bank is close to making a decision, which would also include funding for the construction of a milk powder factory.

Alan Crafar says he’s not giving up easily:

“I tried that with the local banks, put the eggs in three baskets but all the baskets had a hole in the bottom”

The sixteen Crafar farms were placed into receivership in October 2009, and have recently had government approval to be sold to Chinese bidder Shanghai Pengxin