December 2, 2021

photo credit: LAWD

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

In early October Global AgInvesting News shared that LAWD and Elders had been called upon by Laguna Bay Pastoral Company, an Australian full-service institutional investment management firm specializing in the agri sector, to manage the sale of the Woorndoo aggregation with expectations of fetching A$70 million (US$50 million). 

Well, these expectations have now been met. Two farming families: Ian and Camilla Shippen from Moulamein, New South Wales, and Clinton Ross, a cropping farmer north-east of Woorndoo have split the property, grossing about A$70 million (US$50 million) for Laguna Bay.

LAWD agent Danny Thomas and Elders agent Rob Rickard were tasked with managing the sale, which Thomas stated attracted widespread interest from both domestic and overseas buyers, having shown the property to more than 20 serious parties before the expression of interest campaign closed on November 4.

This sale price of approximately A$20,000 (US$14,210) per hectare is indicative of how farmland prices in the region have doubled over the past 18 months, according to Rob Rickard, real estate agent with Elders. It is also another savvy deal closing executed by Laguna Bay. 

The asset manager made headlines in December 2019 when it sold, on behalf of its investors,  the largest almond portfolio in Australia to Canadian pension fund giant Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) for over A$350 million (~US$240 million).

In October of last year, Laguna once again demonstrated its superior management and timing when it sold Banongill Station to a local consortium of farming families for approximately A$80 million (US$57 million at the time).

Together with this latest divestment of Woorndoo for A$70 million (US$50 million), these deals are a testament to Laguna Bay’s ability to serve institutional investors as well as being significant for the industry. Laguna founder and CEO Tim McGavin highlighted it as an example of how agri assets can produce both very strong cash flows and capital growth for investors when structured well, in an interview he did with GAI News in April 2020.

“The best thing we can do for our investors is to stay the course and do what we do best – which is diligently allocate capital to the opportunities that offer the best risk reward,” McGavin told GAI News. 

Woorndoo comprises approximately 3,355 hectares (8,285 acres) across three hubs all located within a six kilometer radius: the Northern Hub (1,092 hectares – 2,698 acres); the Central Hub (842 hectares – 2,080 acres); and the Southern Hub (1,420 hectares – 3,509 acres).

With average annual rainfall of 582 millimeters, extensive drainage, and highly fertile basalt clay loam soils, LAWD stated that Woorndoo is a dryland cropping opportunity of superior quality well-suited to a variety of agricultural production models, from winter cereal crops, oilseeds, or pulses. 

Woorndoo also includes an all-weather lane system for the movement of heavy machinery and ease of transport, and has multiple road frontages creating enhanced production efficiencies. It also has benefited from extensive development through the amalgamation of diverse mixed farming enterprises, and the addition of state-of-the-art raised bed systems.

Gavin explained to GAI News in a January 2020 interview how Australian ag, in a broader sense, offers its own range of unique benefits. 

“Australian agriculture is positioned in a unique time in history given our proximity to SE Asia and the demand disruption the world is experiencing in these markets,” said Gavin. “Australia has scale, low costs of production, a competitive advantage in many sectors, no subsidies, and very good farmers producing premium products the world wants more of. We feel that Australia is well placed to capitalise on provenance branding and also to help solve supply chain integrity issues with traceability technology.”

– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor 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 Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.