Sydney  - Australian banks Tuesday pulled the rug from under debt-laden local leveraged buy-out specialist Allco Finance Group.

Receivers were appointed for Allco and its shares placed in a trading halt after talks with the 12 banks failed to reach agreement on a repayment schedule for debts of 667 million Australian dollars (446 million US dollars).

The share price had tumbled from an all-time high of 13 Australian dollars in February 2007 to just 14 Australian cents.

Allco, one of the highest profile local victims of the credit crunch, two years ago was the leader of a failed leverage buy-out of national carrier Qantas Airways.

Its founder, David Coe, was until earlier this year the owner of Sydney's most expensive harbourside mansion. (dpa)