Alberta Investment Management Corporation, via its investment partner New Agriculture (owner of Lawson Grains), have purchased the 2.9 million Kimberley Cattle Portfolio in northern WA.
The final sale price was not disclosed but earlier reports put the price tag at $250m. AgriInvestor is reporting($) the price tag was closer to $300m.
The Kimberley Cattle Portfolio is a large-scale cattle breeding business that spans almost 3 million hectares in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The portfolio consists of seven pastoral leases (1,828,692ha), and five sub-leases (924,325ha), as well as an agistment agreement over 153,475ha. 50,000 breeders are currently run across the aggregation, which features frontage to the Margaret, Mary and Louisa Rivers as well as Christmas Creek.
New Agriculture said it would target natural capital and sustainability improvements on the property.
Bruce King, Director of New Agriculture said, “Kimberley Cattle Portfolio offers a key opportunity to manage for strong investment outcomes alongside leading sustainability objectives. With up to 25% of the solution to climate change expected to come from the land use sector, we have a responsibility to manage these landscapes for sustainability outcomes, and with our local communities in mind.
“Our intention is to apply the same level of rigour and commitment to sustainability that New Forests has in the forestry space to the agriculture sector. New Agriculture will continue to focus on sustainability practices which allow for not only the protection and restoration of landscapes, but which also lead to the enhancement of natural capital over time.”
AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than CAD$158 billion ($A175) of assets under management. With global manager New Forests, they created the vehicle New Agriculture to acquire the Lawson portfolio from Macquarie in September 2021 in a deal worth $600 million. They subsequently added the $85m, 13,496ha Jemalong Station, near Forbes NSW, and the $40m, 2868ha Green Park Aggregation, located near Rand in the NSW Riverina.
Speaking to APlus News in July, New Agriculture CEO Bruce King said managing the landscape, "all the way from the forest through to the soil has really been at the heart of the Lawson Grain acquisition... We'd like to see a better recognition for the natural capital cost that goes into the production of food across the country”.
LAWD handled the transaction.
Gina Rinehart's Hancock Agriculture has continued its strategy of acquiring properties to support its 2GR Wagyu brand with the purchase of Split Rock Dairy.
Located north of Manilla in north-east New South Wales, the 1981-hectare property will complement other backgrounding properties within the Hancock Agriculture portfolio.
In a statement, the company thanked the vendors for facilitating the sales process and wished them well.
"The acquisition complements other agricultural acquisitions in the last 12 months, including Moolan Downs and Ottley, as well as other smaller acquisitions around Australia that complement other aggregations," the statement said.
"Split Rock Dairy, to be now known as Buena Vista, will now be integrated into the Hancock Agriculture portfolio with a focus on investing in infrastructure and implementing actions areas that focus on animal welfare and employee safety."
The property includes irrigated and dryland cropping, with 366ha irrigated through 11 pivots.
The purchase price remains confidential.
ASX-listed ag investor Duxton Farms is selling off "one of the largest and most desirable... broadacre properties in New South Wales" — the $59 million Timberscombe near West Wyalong in the Riverina.
The divestment follows a loss-making year that was heavily impacted by flooding in the Riverina.
In its annual report, the company said it had renewed banking facilities with Commonwealth Bank, including increasing term facilities from $15m to $68m, but noted "a condition of this funding is that the Group have in place a plan to substantially reduce borrowings by 31 March 2024."
A highly productive mixed farming and grazing opportunity featuring one of the most recognised homesteads of the South West Slopes region has hit the market.
Located 21km north of Young, NSW, the 530ha Spring Park currently supports 2120 Merino ewes, of which 1620 ewes form the self-replacing flock, and the remaining 500 are joined to Poll Dorset rams.
The property is equally suited to both sheep and cattle, with 80 cows previously run in conjunction with the sheep breeding enterprise on the high performance improved perennial grass, lucerne and clover pastures.
Ranging in topography from gently to moderately undulating, the property features soils comprising red-brown earths with granite tor outcrops.
Predominantly improved to lucerne, fescue, cocksfoot and clover pastures, with the balance being native grass and clover, the property also features winter cropping rotations including barley, wheat and canola.
Set upon a rise overlooking the property, the historic Spring Park stone homestead (circa 1888), comprises six bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a three-bedroom guest wing.
Surrounding the homestead is a beautifully established garden connected to the home by wide verandas which provide multiple outdoor entertaining options with stunning views.
Listed with LAWD, the property is being sold by private treaty for $11,150,000.
The Wagner family has offloaded the 1211ha Jemalong in a deal believed to be worth almost $20m, The Weekly Times has reported [Paywall].
Located south of Lucindale, in the tightly-held cropping and grazing region of south-east South Australia, the sale ends the family's tenure which dates back more than a century.
Used as a mixed cropping and grazing property, growing a combination of grains and oilseeds in rotation and running sheep and cattle, it is understood a SA farming family has purchased the property.
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