Willmott Forests has been placed in receivership by its bankers, emulating the downward spiral of collapsed managed investment scheme (MIS) operators Timbercorp and Great Southern.

Receiver and manager KordaMentha said that the decades-old forestry group, which manages more than 56,000 hectares of forest in the eastern sea board and the Northern Territory, had not been able to address problems caused by falling scheme sales.

Willmott is believed to owe banks $120 million. Its long-time lender is Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd, alongside St George.

"This severely hampered cash flow, particularly when the Willmott schemes did not require annual maintenance or rental payments from growers," KordaMentha's Mark Korda said in a statement.

"It became clear that the MIS forestry had collapsed after the failure of Environinvest, Timbercorp, Great Southern, FEA Group and the Rewards Group."

The plantations were funded by about $400 million raised from around 8,000 grower-investors, according to KordaMenta, the liquidator of Timbercorp.

Managed investment schemes have been hit by uncertainty over tax treatment, ailing investor confidence, and slumping commodity prices during the global financial crisis.

In July this year, Willmott shares were suspended from trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Its stocks last traded at 32 cents.