Neil Werrett purchases Mudgee wagyu beef farm from Eduardo Cojuangco and family

An Australian property and racehorse mogul has added a 3342ha central NSW Wagyu beef farm to their portfolio for $17m.

An Australian property mogul and champion racehorse owner has expanded their portfolio with the purchase of the 3342ha Biraganbil property.

 

The Weekly Times has confirmed Galileo property partner and champion horse race owner Neil Werrett, is the new owner of the farm after a multimillion-dollar off-market sale.

The Weekly Times understands the family wagyu beef farming operation, was snapped up for at least $17m, plus the price of cattle and water transactions.

Owned by the late Eduardo Cojuangco and family, the property has been under the same title for more than 40 years and is one of the Mudgee districts most renowned properties.

Last year a 5800ha aggregation near Mudgee was sold by the Hanwha Group (South Korea) for a whopping $25 million.

The Biraganbil property is known as one of the region’s finest landholdings lining the banks of the Cudgegong River.

The holding features 130ha of centre-pivot irrigation, 855ha of arable land with the balance comprising native pastures.

It also features a balance of soil types, conducive to a mixed-farming operation of winter and summer cropping, irrigated Lucerne production and will accommodate up to 1000 breeding cows and progeny.

After nearly 40 years of ownership, the family of late Eduardo Cojuangco Jr were approached by Inglis Rural Property’s Jamie and Richie Inglis, who set the wheels in motion for the off-market deal.

According to listing agent Jamie Inglis, the Cojuangco family were happy with the final deal.

“We approached the family privately, inquiring as to whether they would be interested in selling Biraganbil, stating we had a motivated cash buyer looking for a large parcel of land in this region,” Mr Inglis said.

“After several inspections, contracts were exchanged and we have a very happy client.”

Mr Inglis also said the major sale was a sign rural NSW land was still hot property.

“Through our wider business, thoroughbred auctions and our blooming rural property sector, we engage with a wide array of wealthy potential investors, many of which are looking for rural assets,” he said.

“We have now transacted more than $100m in off-market deals in the last two years throughout New South Wales and Victoria.

“The relationships we have formed through our wider business means that we can inquire on properties with the confidence that our interested party is genuine and motivated to make a sale happen.”

Since the mid-1980s, Biraganbil has formed the heart of the pastoral operations of the larger Gooree Park holdings in the immediate area.

The property was a major link in the Gooree Park business plan, with extensive lucerne growing capabilities, cattle breeding and fattening and the ability to grow cash crops via five centre pivots with water supplied from the Cudgegong River.

In recent times Gooree Park Pastoral have been using the property as the basis of their commercial wagyu operation, breeding F1 and pure wagyu progeny that are either fattened or grown to specified weights and then sold to feedlots.