Noel and Lyndsay Henderson put Avington Merino on the market

The family behind one of the world’s renowned luxury Merino wool businesses have put their farm on the market with price expectations of about $30m.

An internationally renowned business that supplies luxury Merino wool fibres to leading European fashion houses is on the market.

Established by Noel and Lyndsay Henderson, Avington in central Victoria’s Macedon Ranges region is an hour from Melbourne and is expected to attract local and potentially international attention, with industry sources saying price expectations were around $30m.

Spanning 1196ha, Avington is the current breeding and grazing platform for the award-winning Avington Merino, one of the few global producers of superfine and ultrafine wool fibres.

It has an exclusive supply agreement with European textile manufacturers, which is expected to underpin interest in the sale.

An aerial of Avington, an award-winning luxury wool fibre-producing enterprise in central Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.

CBRE’s Shane McIntyre, who is selling the property with Matt Childs, said it was a “walk-in, walk-out” offer inclusive of the current inventory of plant and equipment and the entire superfine and ultrafine sheep flock or can be purchased on a bare land basis if desired.

“We expect interest to be widespread. The purchaser of this asset will have no further capital expenditure for decades due to the high quality of Avington,” he said.

“Fencing, pastures, water harvesting and environmental strategies have all been thoughtfully harnessed together to create a highly productive sustainable enterprise.”

About 87 per cent of the property is classed as high-quality arable and grazing area and includes a fully automated and very reliable stock water system.

At 520m elevation, the historic average annual rainfall is 755mm, providing pasture for much of the year.

Avington has been developed with state-of-the-art operational infrastructure and has a 15,000 dry sheep equivalent (DSE) carrying capacity. It currently holds about 14,000 sheep.

The Hendersons established the property in 1996 and built it up over 25 years.

“They have reached the time when they wish to retire having built it up from scratch. They have enjoyed it immensley, but the time is now right,” Mr McIntyre said.

He said the superfine and ultrafine wool markets continued to grow in demand, moving from supplying the luxury suit market to casual and sports wear.

“There has been significant advances in the manufacturing of superfine wool and ultrafine wool into the casualwear and sportswear because of the development in recent years on how to creating close-to-the-skin fabrics that are light and durable,” he said.

“Historically superfine and ultrafine wool has been associated with the luxury suit market, but the trend towards casual and sportswear will continue.”