Sustainable Agriculture Fund to sell farms for $100m

ONE of Australia’s biggest landholders is set to break up its farm portfolio after the sale of three of its five aggregations.

ONE of Australia’s biggest landholders is set to break up its farm portfolio after the sale of three of its five aggregations.

All of Sustainable Agriculture Fund’s mainland farms are now under contract to be sold to an undisclosed number of local farming businesses and institutional investors, including TIAA-CREF Global Ag Properties, in a deal valued at more than $100 million.

TIAA-CREF Global Ag Properties, a large global agricultural investment fund, already owns substantial farm assets in some of the same areas where SAF was operating.

SAF was owned by a group of superannuation funds and run by management company AgCap, but the fund decided earlier this year to quit its 24,000ha farm investment despite healthy returns over its seven-year ownership.

CBRE selling agent Danny Thomas said several bids were received to buy the portfolio as a whole, but these bids were significantly exceeded by the combinations of bids for the
individual assets.

The sale comprises 16,092ha of cropping and grazing land in northern NSW, the Murrumbidgee Valley and Lake Bolac, and more than 12,500 megalitres of groundwater entitlements, plant and equipment and standing crops.

The sale of SAF’s King ­Island and Tasmanian farms, comprising the remaining 7931ha, were still being negotiated, CBRE selling agent James Beer said.

AgCAP chief executive Martin Newnham, who manages SAF on behalf of the investors, said it was a pleasing result for both investors and managers of the fund, and built on the strong returns from the past two years to deliver a robust total return to the investors across the life of the fund.

AgCAP said there would be continuity of operations, with local contractors and service providers to be used under the new ownership.