By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
Private equity continues to capitalize on rising demand for food supply chain assets in Australia. Private equity giant KKR has unveiled plans to acquire North Sydney, Australia-based chicken grower ProTen, one of the country’s largest agricultural infrastructure businesses, from superannuation fund Aware Super. KKR is making the investment through its Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors II Fund, marking the firm’s latest infrastructure foray in the Australia and New Zealand region.
After securing US$6.4 billion in capital commitments from investors, KKR closed its Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors II Fund last year, declaring it the “largest pan-regional infrastructure fund to have been raised for Asia Pacific” region.
Target company ProTen has carved out a critical niche in Australia’s poultry sector, specializing in developing, owning and operating specialized farm infrastructure crucial for the nation’s poultry supply chain. This role is important to ensuring Australian households have access to affordable and sustainable nutrition. ProTen’s operational footprint covers hundreds of poultry sheds spread across dozens of farms located in key agricultural regions nationwide.
Aware Super, which oversees A$190 billion on behalf of its 1.2 million members, had owned ProTen since 2018, growing its operational footprint fourfold. KKR’s investment signals an intent to build upon that momentum to drive continued growth within Australia’s poultry supply chain. KKR boasts a robust track record of investing in critical infrastructure across the region, with past commitments including Zenith Energy, a major independent remote power producer in Australia; Queensland Airports Limited, which oversees four key airports; Spark Infrastructure, a owner of regulated electricity networks; and Ritchies Transport, a leading transportation operator in New Zealand.
KKR Managing Director and Head of Australia & New Zealand Infrastructure Andrew Jennings stated, “Our investment in ProTen is a unique opportunity to acquire a high-quality agricultural infrastructure asset, supported by availability-based long-term contracts, that plays an essential role in the food supply chain. KKR has been actively monitoring the agricultural infrastructure space as a high-conviction thematic. We are impressed by the quality of ProTen’s assets, its long-term contractual relationships with its customers and the favorable dynamics within the poultry industry.”
The consistent flow of private capital into agricultural infrastructure reflects a wider recognition of its attractive asset class. Properties vital to the food supply chain offer a degree of stability and predictability, driven by the essential nature of their output. For institutional investors like KKR, these assets represent not just steady income streams, but long-term foundational investments aligned with global population growth and food security demands.
As the nation’s most consumed meat, Australian poultry experiences steady demand. However, this market has also grappled with both regulatory pressures and intense competition, particularly from major supermarkets. These forces have constrained price growth for poultry products, even contributing to a revenue dip for processors in the 2024-2025 period. Despite these headwinds, processors have found some relief in lower input costs, which has helped buttress profitability and drive the overall value of Australia’s poultry market to an anticipated $10.1 billion by 2025, reflecting a steady 0.8 percent compound annual growth rate over the past five years.
The industry is also evolving in response to changing consumer preferences. A rising emphasis on health and animal welfare has fueled demand for free-range and organic chicken options. This evolution influences the sector’s operational footprint; for example, the poultry processing industry remains geographically concentrated. This focus reflects the importance of regional factors and cost paradigms in their operations, often tying processors closely to local grain farming regions to optimize feed supply and logistics.
KKR’s Asia Pacific infrastructure platform itself has seen substantial growth, reaching approximately US$13 billion in assets under management since its inception in 2019. The deal is expected to close in H2 2025.
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