Seppeltsfield owner snaps up Bunyip Water in $22m deal

Randall Wine Group has purchased the crucial pipeline, connecting the Gawler River with the Barossa, from regional authorities.

Bunyip Water’s Wingate Basin. The pipeline has been acquired by the Randall Wine Group.

One of the country’s largest private vineyard, the Randall Wine Group, has paid $22m to acquire Bunyip Water from Light Regional Council in South Australia’s Barossa winemaking region.

Bunyip owns and operated a pipeline – completed in 2016 – which delivering water from the Gawler River, allowing Randall and its 2600 acres of vineyards in the region to be independent of a supply from the Murray.

The 42km pipeline harvests surplus winter stormwater flows from the Gawler before pumping it north to the Barossa.

“The surplus winter flows of the Gawler River were being lost to agriculture by simply flowing out into the gulf,” said Warren Randall, the company’s executive chairman. “Water in SA is such a precious resource and the Barossa Valley is such a significant economic driver.”

Brian Carr, chief executive of the Light Regional Council, said: “Water has always been a precious resource in SA, being the driest state in the driest inhabited continent on Earth.

“With the emergence of climate change upon us, we cannot take for granted that water will always be available from the River Murray, at scale.

“Bunyip was an opportunity for us to develop a bespoke, innovative and sustainable solution with one of Australia’s most iconic wine businesses.”

Randall Wine Group has expanded its portfolio considerably since the start of the year, in July acquiring some 155 acres including Yeenunga in the McLaren Vale. Local sources said that deal had been negotiated at more than $5m and included some 400 megalitres of water licence.

Randall Wine Group’s best-known brand is Seppeltsfield Estate. Since the introduction of trade restrictions by China – one of the largest export markets for wines – the company has turned its focus to North America.

Other groups have also been snapping up vineyards in the state this year. In late August, Centuria acquired six Accolade Wine properties through its Primewest platform in a $8.2m sale-and-leaseback deal.

Those six properties, close to 114ha, include 75ha planted with vines. The deal gives Accoldate a 10 year lease and includes 223 megalitres of water rights.

Accolade is owned by private equity firm Carlyle.