One of Canada’s largest pension funds, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB), which invests on behalf of the Canadian Public Service and the Royal Mounted Police, has made its first rural land purchase in Australia. The fund has acquired Sir Graham McCamley’s Oakleigh and Stoodleigh properties through the Hewitt Cattle Co. in central Queensland for $13 million.
The organically accredited, 13,650 hectare properties cover six freehold titles, have 15 main paddocks, and have been offered on a walk in-walk out basis with 5,000 head of cattle, the plant, and all equipment.
This past March, the pension fund bought a multi-million dollar stake in Hewitt Cattle Co., which operates 200,000 hectares of land and runs 30,000 head of cattle. Despite the industry being saddled with large amounts of debt and drought conditions, climbing beef prices, surging demand, tight supplies, and a falling Australian dollar all point to strong growth prospects for the sector.
This transaction is one of the latest for offshore, public sector funds in the Australian cattle industry, after Dutch pension fund, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP acquired a major stake in Macquarie Group’s Paraway Pastoral. Following its acquisition of its stake in Hewitt Cattle Co. and its purchase of the McCamley cattle stations, future possible purchases for the PSPIB are, at this point, unclear.
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