Steve Jarrott
Warakirri Asset Management has announced the addition of its newest asset for the Warakirri Diversified Agriculture Fund (Fund), taking the strategy beyond a A$100m portfolio value milestone.
Adding the Fund’s first exposure to the nut complex, the Fund’s sixth investment is located in the Sunraysia region on the Murray River near Mildura (north-west Victoria) and is one of the most land and water efficient large-scale almond orchards in the country, spanning over 350 planted hectares.
In a $30 million off-market deal, the Fund’s Tenant Partner for this asset is one of the largest and fastest growing privately owned almond growers in Australia, the Bright Light Agribusiness group.
Steve Jarrott, Portfolio Manager for the Fund, said: “We’re delighted to add another first-class horticulture asset and a further high-quality Tenant Partner to the Fund. The Bright Light group own and operate almond orchards across the Sunraysia region and have recently completed development of a new, state-of-the-art processing facility, to become only the 4th integrated grower, processor and marketer of almonds in Australia.”
“As well as another strong new Tenant Partner, the asset adds new exposure to one of the Fund’s key target sectors, and valuable geographic diversification to the portfolio. We look forward to working with the Bright Light team on this stand-out property” he added.
The Warakirri Diversified Agriculture Fund’s portfolio of investments currently features high quality Berry, Citrus, Soft Leaf Vegetable, Agri-infrastructure and vineyard assets, with six best in class Tenant Partners across five states.