Centuria picks up another glasshouse
Centuria has acquired a hydroponic tomato growing facility in Guyra, between Armidale and Glenn Innes, in the northern Tablelands, for c$76 million.
The asset was offered by Anthony and Robert Costa’s Costa Asset Management with a 15 year leaseback to the Tomato Exchange.
It includes a 20 hectare glasshouse producing 12.8 tonnes of the fruit per year.
It also contains a c4000 square metre nursery.
The buyer will slot the investment into the Centuria Agricultural Fund, which is now worth $323m.
The deal come three months since the manager, for the trust, snapped up the 246ha Sundrop Farms property, in South Australia’s Port Augusta, for $70m, and a year and a half since it agreed to pay Roc Partners $177m for a Warragul facility, 100 kilometres south east of Melbourne.
Including assets not controlled by CAF, Centuria holds agricultural real estate worth $500m.
Guyra facility
The Guyra facility, like Port Augusta and Warragul, was acquired off-market.
“Centuria has expressed its intention to strategically grow its platform across alternative real estate sectors including agriculture,” the manager’s joint chief executive officer, Jason Huljich, said (story continues below).
“We believe strong demand fundamentals will drive continued investor interest in agricultural real estate and Centuria will continue to seek high quality assets, leased to reputable operators with strong sustainability credentials in high revenue producing sectors such as protected cropping,” he added.
“We have developed a healthy acquisition pipeline of assets which suit the CAF investment profile and expect to grow total agriculture assets under management to exceed $600m during FY23 and continue to grow rapidly in FY24,” according to the executive.
The Guyra property also includes a 65 megalitre dam, packing and distribution sheds and cool rooms.
Tomato Exchange is a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Group, the country’s largest grower, packer and marketer of fruit and vegetables.
“The parent company has long-standing relationships with major blue-chip fresh produce retailers across Australia including Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Costco and Harris Farms,” the buyer added.
“Guyra…provides a unique micro-climate with high sunlight levels in winter and cool summers,” it said.
CAF was established last July.
Including its latest asset, the trust’s Weighted Average Lease Expiry is 18 years.
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