September 1, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Brown&Co. is bringing a unique institutional scale investment opportunity to the market, brokering a premium 44,000-hectare, grass-fed beef breeding and fattening operation and 46,000 head of predominantly Brangus cattle in the Gran Chaco region of Paraguay.

Having begun working in South America in the early 2000s, Brown&Co. has built up an active client base of institutional investors, investment funds, government institutions, and private clients, offering a range of buy side/sell side services across a range of properties, agriculture, and the environment. 

“The scale this opportunity presents is rare in the current climate, particularly in an operating environment where freehold land ownership is possible – combined with a low cost, low carbon operation that is immune to grain price volatility,” said Charles Whitaker, managing partner, Brown&Co. 

“Our view is this is a unique opportunity in a rapidly developing part of the world which both food security mandates, beef supply chain and institutional investors are finding increasingly compelling.”

Since its initial acquisition in 2008, the business has seen a number of developments making it one of the premier beef operations of its kind in the country. In addition to the 44,000 hectares of freehold land, there is another 16,000 hectares of leasehold land with established and profitable share farming operations.

The business has a track record of establishing, operating, and managing 46,000 head across a rapidly growing pasture and cell grazing platform with the adoption of innovative practices, technologies, and genetics at the core of the operation. 

Included within the 44,000 hectares of freehold land is approximately 18,500 hectares of forest reserve, positioning the business to build upon and maintain strong ESG practices touching upon animal welfare, low carbon impact, highly efficient water capture and use, active wildlife and biodiversity conservation, and the potential for carbon sequestration associated with efficient cell grazing practices. 

Additionally, a water and infrastructure investment program has been implemented along with a digital, patent-pending water monitoring and control system. Through this system, 80 percent of the water required is derived from dam-collected rainwater in the rainy season (November-April) and stored in large gravity collection dams prior to being pumped up to Australian tanks, with each dam and tank supported by a bore hole and solar pump for additional capacity in the dry season.

“I believe any party seeking an already at-scale low cost, low carbon grass fed beef opportunity should be looking at this,” said Whitaker. 

“The quality of the management team together with investments made into infrastructure, water and genetics means this is an opportunity that is ready for an investor seeking scale and a growth platform.”

Whitaker continued, “We are expecting strong interest from institutional investors demanding agricultural assets in the greater than US$90 million market segment. We believe $1500 per hectare and 160kg beef production per hectare per annum to be globally competitive and attractive to those in large scale beef supply chains.”

Paraguay

Richard Lane, executive director, Birdwood Capital, has written extensively on Paraguay and the potential it holds for institutional agricultural investment. In a prior article published by GAI News, Paraguayan Chaco – The Next Frontier in Global Institutional Agri Investment, Lane stated, “Paraguay, often mistaken as a province of much smaller Uruguay, is nestled, erstwhile swallowed, between the two agricultural giants Brazil and Argentina. It has been a consistent beacon of macro and regulatory stability in a broader region marked by political swings-and-roundabouts. Importantly, as further distinctions from its neighbors and most contemporary global jurisdictions, Paraguay boasts one of the most generous corporate tax systems in the world and permits foreigners to acquire productive agricultural lands at scale without restriction.”

In another article, Paraguay – The New Frontier in Global Institutional Forestry Investment, published by GAI News in April of this year, Lane further commented, “Paraguay itself continues its positive forward trajectory in typical quiet and efficient fashion, culminating in an outlook upgrade from Moody’s (stable to positive) in July 2022.”

Adam Oliver, partner, Brown&Co, also noted that recent elections in the country have resulted in 44-year-old former IMF economist Santiago Peña being elected as president.

“The investment environment for those seeking long-term, scaleable investments is positive and stable and consistent ongoing investment is improving the logistics and access to market outlook,” said Oliver. “A good example of this is the Bioceanic highway currently under construction which will link the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and reduce logistics costs, further improving the competitiveness of the region.”

“Over the medium and longer term we expect this to open up the Gran Chaco to significant development in the same way that we have seen other parts of the world that have seen investments in infrastructure and logistics.” 

Interested parties can contact Charles Whitaker, managing partner at Brown&Co. (caw@brown-co.com), or Adam Oliver, partner at Brown&Co. (a.oliver@brown-co.pl), for more information.

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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