August 10, 2015

Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and California-based Renewable Resources Group have purchased almond assets owned by Macquarie Farm Assets and Resources Management in Robinvale, in the Sunraysia district of Victoria, Australia for $115 million.

The properties, developed in 2006 and called Margooya and Carvarvon, totaling 2,878 hectares, consist of 1,067 hectares of mature orchards. Of these, 940 hectares are licensed to investors in five of Macquarie’s managed investment strategies who have approved the sale of the groves with the sale of approximately $25 million worth of water entitlements.

While visiting Canada last year, Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott campaigned for Canadian pension funds to increase investments in Australia. This investment in Australian almonds comes directly behind Australian agricultural investments made by some of Canada’s other pension funds including Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board which invested in cattle stations in Queensland.

Pension funds from other countries have also marked Australian almonds as a prime investment target. U.S. –based Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan, in partnership with Swiss fund, Adveq Real Assets and Danish Danica Pension Fund have previously purchased 18,000 hectares of almond orchards in the same region for $211 million.

Renewable Resources Group, which focuses on agricultural and sustainable resources, and the co-investor with OTPPB, purchased Sun World International in 2013 which was already an owner of Australian almonds plantations.

Australia has seen a rapid development of its almond sector over the past decade to become the world’s second biggest almond producer after the U.S. Plantings in the country increased from 5,907 hectares in 2001 to 28,586 hectares in 2013 according to the Almond Board of Australia, and the crop produced from the 2015 harvest is estimated to be 82,000 tons.