Singapore-based Olam International has concluded the $211 million sale of its almond orchards in Victoria, Australia to an international investor partnership led by Zurich-based asset management company Adveq Real Assets. The sale which is part of an 18 year lease-back deal, one of the biggest global farmland deals of the past year, and accounting for approximately 3.5% of the world’s almond production, was locally coordinated through the Laguna Bay Pastoral Co. The Olam almond business which was originally bought from Timbercorp in 2009 encompasses 18,000 total hectares including 12,000 hectares planted with 3 million almond trees. Olam will use the cash from the deal to expand its presence in the cotton, grain, wool, dairy and nut sectors in Australia.
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