Argyle Capital Partners, CPC secure Queensland farms

In separate deals worth almost $90 million combined, a Queensland fruit farm and a cattle station have been sold to institutional investors.

Evergreen Farms has been sold by the King family in a $70 million deal.

Two institutional buyers have snapped up a pair of Queensland farms in separate deals worth almost $90 million combined.

For a figure of about $70 million, Argyle Capital Partners have reportedly purchased the 3793ha Evergreen Farms, located in the Central Highlands, from Queensland property developer Darwin King and his family.

Comprising 206ha of established table grapes, 194ha of trellised country (not planted), 25ha of lychees and 353ha of land suitable for intensive cropping, Evergreen Farms is one of the nation’s largest horticultural farms.

The King family listed the property for sale in October 2021 with price expectations of $60m-plus, with a water allocation of 6434ML included.

Argyle’s acquisition of Evergreen Farms adds to its existing private portfolio, launched in 2008, and includes investments in secure water entitlements, farmland, and food and fibre supply chain infrastructure.

LAWD’s Danny Thomas and Simon Cudmore handled the sale of Evergreen Farms. Argyle Capital partners did not comment on the purchase.

Argyle Capital’s purchase comes after it offloaded the 2456ha irrigated cotton and cereal cropping enterprise, HK Farming, at Gunbar, NSW, last year for a figure in the vicinity of $15 million.

In the sale of HK Farming, Argyle retained the water portfolio, which was valued at about $16.5 million when it was listed for sale in June last year.

Meanwhile, one the largest privately-owned beef producers in Australia, the Consolidated Pastoral Company, has expanded further, acquiring the 4882ha Langley Station in central Queensland.

In a deal worth about $17 million, CPC acquired cattle, plant and equipment from cropping and land development.

Langley Station, which was sold in 2020 for $9.4 million, is located close to the 17,600ha Jimarndy aggregation, which CPC purchased for a record $48 million from the Simon family in October last year.

“We will integrate Langley Station with Jimarndy Station aggregation giving us economies of scale by allowing us to run an additional 2000 adult equivalents of cattle and crop and an additional 1000ha. Giving us a new total capacity of 8200 adult equivalent plus cropping,” CPC chief executive Troy Setter said in a statement.

“The property will be used to grow and fatten young cattle we breed in Northern Australia and is close to key markets.

“Due to the increased productivity of our herd and further land development across our northern stations we required additional growing and fattening land.”

CPC’s central Queensland expansion comes after British investor Guy Hands, and management, purchased the company and its assets in 2020 for $500 million.