Laguna Pastoral Co. which owns stakes in land companies PrimeAg and Tandou is seeking large acquisitions after gaining the endorsement of Swiss private equity fund of funds manager, Adveq. Adveq which has approximately US$5 billion under management has been on a global search for agricultural fund managers for two years. Leunga won Adveq’s endorsement based on its ability to meet Adveq’s environmental and governance process and generate returns. There is talk that Laguna will now be looking to acquire Olam’s Australian assets. Olam, the Singapore-based farming, processing, and trading company made a huge push into Australia upon TimberCorp’s collapse in 2009 buying 8,000 hectares of almond orchards and 41,000 mL of water. Olam also owns Queensland Cotton as well as grain trading and wool brokering businesses. The company is one of Victoria’s largest land owners as well as the largest water baron. Despite this, Olam reported a 48% fall in fourth quarter profits on August 30th and is cutting costs and selling assets. To read more:
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