Macquarie has lobbed in a ninth bid for Vitalharvest – offering $1.295 for all the units in the trust or $355 million for its assets – to nudge ahead of Sydney private equity firm Roc Partners in the chase for the fruit grower.

The latest offer by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) comes ahead of unitholders meeting on June 10 to vote on whether to accept the highest offer for the trust, which owns a $300 million portfolio of berry and citrus orchards leased to Costa Group.