Massive Riverina farm sold to Aussie investors

Italian confectionery giant Ferrero has sold its 2666ha of farmland and a huge water portfolio to an Australian agricultural investor and developer.

GO. FARM have purchased the 2666ha Dellapool Aggregation, near Narrandera in the NSW Riverina.

Former hazelnut farms in the NSW Riverina’s Murrumbidgee Irrigation District, have returned to Australian ownership after they were sold by an Italian confectionery giant.

Australian agricultural investor and developer GO. FARM, with the help of Qantas Super backing, has acquired the 2666ha Dellapool Aggregation, formerly owned by Ferrero, the global manufacturer of famous brands such as Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Surprise.

Located 14km southeast of Narrandera at Sandigo, the Dellapool Aggregation was listed for sale in October last year where it was expected to be worth in excess of $80 million, inclusive of a 11,361ML water entitlements portfolio.

The purchase price remains undisclosed, however, the Dellapool Aggregation acquisition is part of a $150 million expansion by GO. FARM, which has also acquired Sandmount North, spanning 1556 hectares, with 3211ML of water entitlements, in order to expand its almond and tomato operations.

When the Dellapool Aggregation hit the market last year, the one million hazelnut trees planted by Ferrero since 2013 were in the process of being removed and turned into wood chips.

At the time Ferrero cited adverse weather conditions and poor yields as to why it abandoned the $70 million project, which had also received millions in federal and NSW government support.

Ferrero ripped up and turned a million hazelnut trees into woodchips after abandoning their project last year. Picture: File (Zoe Phillips).

GO. FARM is planning on planting high-density olive groves across the property, to be used in olive oil production, similar to plans for the 547ha Balranald Vineyard which it acquired in a $40 million deal in July.

At Dellapool, about 1950 hectares are serviced irrigation land suitable for permanent plantings.

“We will unlock the full potential of these assets using technology and sustainable water

management to deliver both strong financial returns and tangible benefits for regional

communities,” GO. FARM founder and managing director Liam Lenaghan said.

The $9 billion Qantas Super and GO. FARM announced a $200 million partnership earlier this year, targeting under-utilised agricultural land to be transformed into horticultural projects.

The transactions of Dellapool and Sandmount North were handled by agents CBRE and LAWD respectively.

The Dellapool Aggregation comprises the 1788ha Dellapool and 877ha Arrambee properties, which have Murrumbidgee River frontage, with Dellapool previously owned by large-scale potato farmers Jason Menegazzo and family.

The purchases of Sandmount North and the Dellapool Aggregation take the value of GO. FARM’s agricultural portfolio to about $1.3 billion, comprising 96,000ha and 112,000ML across Victoria, the NSW Riverina and Tasmania.

GO. FARM was established in 2013 by Mr Lenaghan, with the backing of the Costa family.

In the last 12 months GO. FARM has launched a $120 million almond growing expansion near Griffith in the Riverina while also buying more than 3300ha of mixed farmland across two properties near Ballarat.