Mt Elephant, Victoria's Western District, Sells For About $20 Million

SWEDISH Count Carl Gustav Wachmeister has reportedly paid $20 million for a major rural property in Victoria’s western district.

Mt Elephant – a 3310 hectare farm with permanent springs and 30 dams – was offloaded by Anthony Baillieu, the second cousin of Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu.

The state’s previous biggest rural sale was in 2008, when the Glenfine station, near Skipton, sold to United Staets based Westchester Group’s fund International Agricultural Investors, the AFR reports.

At Mt Elephant, near Lismore, it’s expected to stay business as usual, as the conditions of sale were for “walk in-walk out.”

Mr Baillieu said farms values have held up fairly well “which says a lot about this investment class.”

Demand for rural property has been negatively affected in recent years by the drought, fires, tighter credit conditions and a stronger Australian dollar.

Mr Elephant is described as “one of the best mixed farming properties in Victoria” and had been on the market since 2008, when it was initially listed for sale by tender.