Who owns Australia’s farms 2021: 50 of the biggest deals in the past five years

From $60 million to $860 million - we rank Australia's biggest rural property deals of the past five years. See the full list. 

S Kidman and Co, Cubbie Station and Lawson Grains number highly among Australia’s biggest farmland deals in the past five years.

Australia’s 50 biggest agriculture deals of the past five years have yielded a whopping $10.5 billion, as predominantly offshore funds clamoured to secure strategic farmland assets.

An AgJournal investigation has found that 15 of the most lucrative transactions since 2016 have each eclipsed more than $200 million, with 13 topping $300 million, six exceeding $400 million and four topping $600 million.

More than 40 of the 50 biggest deals have involved some level of foreign capital, with buyers from the likes of Canada, the US, Singapore, The Netherlands and the Bahamas competing for assets against a strong level of domestic support. The investigation also found horticulture assets, backed up by reliable water entitlements, were in strongest demand followed by irrigated cropping and beef.

LAWD senior director Danny Thomas says the rural property market has performed “phenomenally” over the past five years, both at institutional and family-farm levels.

“There has been unprecedented demand and an extraordinary volume of transactions,” Thomas says. “Permanent plantings are where a lot of the money has been focused and after that irrigated and dryland row cropping.”

Thomas says, from an overseas investor perspective, there is particularly strong demand for Australian farmland assets from North America and Europe. An example of this has been the two biggest deals of the past five years – worth a combined $1.71 billion – involving Canada’s PSP Investments.

PSP, which manages the superannuation funds of the Canadian public sector and armed forces, in addition to the 30,000 member-strong mounted police, has snapped up about $4 billion worth of Australian land and water assets in recent years. In February last year it finalised its $854 million takeover (No.2) of the ASX-listed Webster Limited – Australia’s fourth-oldest company and one of the nation’s biggest landholders with more than 340,000 hectares and 153,000 megalitres of water.

Months earlier it paid about $860 million (No.1) for 12,000 hectares of almond plantations near Robinvale in northern Victoria and almost 90,000 megalitres of high-security water and $300 million for cotton giant Auscott’s Midkin vertically integrated aggregation near Moree in northern NSW (No.12).

It was involved in the $325 million purchase of BFB Farms cropping business at Temora in NSW in 2019 (No.10) as well as paying $132.7 million for two northern NSW cropping properties in 2018 (No.21) and $97 million for the Erregulla Plains property at Mingenew in Western Australia last year, through its Daybreak Cropping arm (No.36).

Other major investors in recent years have included Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, who in recent weeks increased its bid for citrus and berry farmland owner Vitalharvest (No.9). Macquarie spent $200 million in 2019 for a 49 per cent stake in Australia’s biggest cotton farm – Cubbie Station at Dirranbandi in Queensland (No.15). The biggest pastoral deal of the past five years was the $500 million sell-off of Consolidated Pastoral Company’s northern beef assets to UK investor Guy Hands (No. 5).

50 of Australia’s biggest farmland deals in the past five years

1. ALMOND ORCHARDS, ROBINVALE VIC (2020)

$860 MILLION

SELLER: Olam Orchards (Singapore)

BUYER: PSP Investments (Canada)

DEAL: 12,000 hectares of almonds and almost 90,000 megalitres of high-security water

2. WEBSTER LIMITED (2020)

$854 MILLION

SELLER: Webster Limited (ASX listed)

BUYER: PSP Investments (Canada)

DEAL: 340,000 hectares and 153,000 megalitres of water

3. LAWSON GRAINS (2021)

$600 MILLION – FOR SALE

SELLER: Macquarie Agriculture

OFFERING: 105,000 hectares of cropping land across 10 aggregations in NSW and Western Australia

4. AUSCOTT LIMITED (2020)

$500 MILLION-PLUS

SELLER: JG Boswell Company (US)

BUYER: PSP Investments (Canada)

OFFERING: 22,000 hectares of developed irrigation country, more than 143,000 megalitres of water entitlements and five ginning facilities

5. CONSOLIDATED PASTORAL COMPANY ASSETS (2020)

$500 MILLION

SELLER: Consolidated Pastoral Company

BUYER: Guy Hands (UK)

DEAL: Nine pastoral leases totalling 3.2 million hectares in the Northern Territory and Queensland, 300,000 cattle and a 90 per cent stake in an Indonesian feedlot business

6. NORTH AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL COMPANY 80% STAKE (2016)

$400 MILLION

SELLER: Foster family and MP Evans

BUYER: Queensland Investment Corporation

DEAL: 5.8 million hectares of land and 178,000 cattle

7. S KIDMAN AND CO (2016)

$386.5 MILLION

SELLER: Descendants of pastoral icon Sir Sidney Kidman

BUYER: Outback Beef consortium of Gina Rinehart and Shanghai CRED (China)

DEAL: 17 pastoral leases, 155,000 cattle and a feedlot

8. PROTEN LIMITED CHICKEN FARM OPERATORS (2018)

$370 MILLION

SELLER: ProTen Limited

BUYER: ROC Partners-First State Super

9. VITALHARVEST (2021)

$329.6 MILLION – FOR SALE

SELLER: Vitalharvest Freehold Trust (ASX listed)

BIDDERS: Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and ROC Partners

DEAL: Includes citrus and berry farms leased to Costa Group

10. BFB FARMS, TEMORA NSW (2019)

$325 MILLION

SELLER: Proterra Investment Partners (US)

BUYER: PSP Investments (Canada)

DEAL: Controlling stake in cropping and logistics business comprising 48,700 hectares and 332,000-tonne storage site

11. HASSAD AUSTRALIA PROPERTIES (2018)

$300 MILLION

SELLER: Hassad Australia

BUYER: Macquarie Agriculture (Paraway Pastoral Company and Viridis Ag)

DEAL: Nine farms covering 100,000 hectares

12. MIDKIN AGGREGATION, MOREE NSW (2019)

$300 MILLION

SELLER: JG Boswell Company-Auscott Limited (US)

BUYER: PSP Investments (Canada)

DEAL: 17,300 hectares, 57,600 megalitres of water and cotton ginning facilities

13. HANCOCK AGRICULTURE/S KIDMAN AND CO STATIONS (2021)

$300 MILLION – FOR SALE

SELLER: Hancock Agriculture and S Kidman and Co

OFFERING: Seven cattle stations totalling 1.88 million hectares in the Northern Territory and Western Australia and 110,000 cattle

14. VAN DIEMEN’S LAND DAIRY, CIRCULAR HEAD TAS (2016)

$280 MILLION

SELLER: Van Diemen’s Land Company

BUYER: Moon Lake Investments (China)

DEAL: More than 7000 hectares of land and 17,890 dairy cows

15. CUBBIE STATION 49% STAKE, DIRRANBANDI QLD (2019)

$200 MILLION

SELLER: Cubbie Agriculture (China)

BUYER: Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets

16. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE FUND PORTFOLIO (2018)

$185 MILLION

SELLER: Sustainable Agriculture Fund

BUYER: Various investors

17. JASPER FARMS AVOCADO, BUSSELTON WA (2018)

$180 MILLION

SELLER: Delroy family

BUYER: Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (Canada)

18. ROCKLANDS AND TANBAR STATIONS, QLD (2016)

$148 MILLION

SELLER: Western Grazing

BUYER: Macquarie Agriculture-Paraway Pastoral Company

19. WYADRA AND COWL COWL STATIONS, HILLSTON NSW (2020)

$140 MILLION

SELLER: Harvard University Endowment Fund (US)

BUYER: Hancock Agricultural Investment Group (US)

20. ARGYLE DOWNS, NEWRY AND AUVERGNE STATIONS, WA AND NT (2019)

$135 MILLION

SELLER: Consolidated Pastoral Company

BUYER: Clean Agriculture and International Tourism (Vietnam)

21. BENGERANG AND DARLING FARMS, NSW (2018)

$132.7 MILLION

SELLER: Webster Limited (ASX-listed)

BUYER: PSP Investments (Canada)

22. PIANGIL ALMOND ORCHARD, PIANGIL VIC (2020)

$129 MILLION

SELLER: United Almonds, Bright Lights Agribusiness and Lake Lucas Almonds

BUYER: Select Harvests (ASX-listed)

23. DAIRY FARMS, KATUNGA VIC (2019)

$120 MILLION

SELLERS: Various

BUYER: goFARM

24. SUNDOWN VALLEY, ARMIDALE NSW AND GUNNEE FEEDLOT, INVERELL NSW

$120 MILLION

(2018)

SELLERS: Sundown Pastoral Company

BUYER: Gina Rinehart-Hancock Prospecting

25. JEMALONG, JEMALONG CITRUS AND MERROWIE, HILLSTON NSW (2018)

$115 MILLION

SELLER: Twynam Agricultural Group (Argentina)

BUYER: MRA Merrowie Pty Ltd (US)

26. MARGOOYA AND CARNARVON, ROBINVALE VIC (2016)

$115 MILLION

BUYER: Auston Corporation (Canada)

27. NORMAN FARMING AGGREGATION, TOOBEAH QLD (2020)

$105 MILLION-PLUS

SELLER: Norman Farming

BUYER: Hancock Agricultural Investment Group (US)

28. WAVE HILL AND CATTLE CREEK STATIONS, NT (2021)

$104 MILLION

SELLER: Western Grazing

BUYER: Syndicate including Jumbuck Pastoral Company

29. MOORA, EUROLEY AND NEWMARKET, NSW RIVERINA (2020)

$100 MILLION – FOR SALE

SELLER: Harvard University Endowment Fund (US)

30. CARLTON HILL STATION, KUNUNURRA WA (2016)

$100 MILLION

SELLER: Consolidated Pastoral Company

BUYER: Shanghai Zhongfu (China)

31. WOODHOUSE STATION, MELTON VIC (2016)

$100 MILLION

SELLER: Baillieu family

BUYER: Fucheng Group (China)

32. WALHALLOW STATION, ELLIOTT NT (2016)

$100 MILLION

SELLER: Macquarie Agriculture-Paraway Pastoral Company

BUYER: Brett Blundy Retail Capital (Bahamas)

33. SAWA PASTORAL STATIONS, KIMBERLEY WA (2016)

$100 MILLION

SELLER: SAWA Pastoral Company

BUYER: Consolidated Australian Pastoral Holdings

34. SOUTH CALANDOON, GOONDIWINDI QLD (2021)

$100 MILLION

SELLER: Duddy family

BUYER: Unknown

35. MOORAL STATION, HILLSTON NSW (2020)

$98 MILLION

SELLER: Rural Funds (ASX listed)

BUYER: Hancock Agricultural Investment Group (US)

36. ERREGULLA PLAINS, MINGENEW WA (2020)

$97 MILLION

SELLER: Smart family

BUYER: PSP Investments-Daybreak Cropping (Canada)

37. MANTUAN DOWNS STATION, SPRINGSURE QLD (2020)

$92.6 MILLION

SELLER: Clark and Tait

BUYER: North Australian Pastoral Company

38. SUGAR FARMS, BUNDABERG QLD (2020)

$81.1 MILLION

SELLER: MSF Sugar (Thailand)

BUYER: Rural Funds (ASX listed)

39. BANONGILL STATION, SKIPTON VIC (2020)

$80 MILLION

SELLER: Laguna Bay Agricultural Fund (US)

BUYER: Local farming consortium

40. DAIRY AGGREGATION, SMITHTON TAS

$80 MILLION-PLUS

SELLER: Various

BUYER: Laguna Bay Pastoral Company (US)

41. NEWSTEAD AND PARADISE, INVERELL NSW (2016)

$78 MILLION

SELLER: Sundown Pastoral Company

BUYER: Macquarie Agriculture-Paraway Pastoral Company

42. NICOLETTI PORTFOLIO, WA (2019)

$78 MILLION

SELLER: John Nicoletti

BUYER: Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (Saudi Arabia)

43. POULTRY FARMS, GRIFFITH NSW (2019)

$72 MILLION

SELLER: Rural Funds (ASX listed)

BUYER: ProTen Investment Management

44. TELOPEA DOWNS, TELOPEA VIC (2018)

$70 MILLION

SELLER: Hassad Australia (Qatar)

BUYER: AJ&PA McBride

45. TANUMBIRINI AND FOREST HILL STATIONS, KATHERINE NT (2020)

$70 MILLION

BUYER: Langenhoven family-Rallen Australia (South Africa)

46. GUNDALINE STATION, CARRATHOOL NSW (2018)

$70 MILLION

SELLER: Southern Ag fund including Blue Sky (ASX listed), ABP (Netherlands) and Duxton (Singapore)

BUYER: Optifarm (Netherlands)

47. TUMBAR STATION, JERICHO QLD (2016)

$67.7 MILLION

SELLER: Bevan Doyle

BUYER: Georgina Pastoral Company

48. LINDEN VALE, GISBORNE VIC (2018)

$61.1 MILLION

SELLER: Duggan family

BUYER: ID Land

49. MACADAMIA ORCHARDS, BUNDABERG QLD (2019)

$60 MILLION

SELLER: Hancock Agricultural Investment Group (US)

BUYER: Finasucre (Belgium)

50. YALOAK ESTATE, BALLAN VIC (2020)

$60 MILLION

SELLER: Peter Yunghanns

BUYER: Harvest Agriculture (China)

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