November 30, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) and its investment partner New Agriculture have agreed to acquire the 2.9 million-hectares (7.2 million-acre) Kimberley Cattle Portfolio that was placed on the market earlier this fall through a listing managed by LAWD. Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed at this time.

Offering a rare combination of large-scale breeding capacity and irrigated fodder production, the portfolio includes more than seven pastoral leases totaling 1,828,692 hectares (4,518,796 acres), five sub-leases totaling 924,325 hectares (2,284,057 acres), and an agistment agreement over 153,475 hectares (379,245 acres).

The holding runs up to 50,000 breeders, claims land types ranging from red Spinifex to black soil grasslands, and river frontage, and sits within a 350 kilometer radius, a proximity that portfolio general manager Haydn Sale, who together with Jane Sale will be retained as managers part of the transaction, noted in October, “delivered marked management efficiency, supported by execution of an extensive development  program”. 

“This business was essentially built around putting together an aggregation of properties that were  close enough to work together to create key efficiencies, with potential to develop in a way that  would escalate production,” said Sale. 

The portfolio also boasts abundant water throughout the holdings with frontage on the Margaret River, Mary River, Louisa River, and Christmas Creek, along with extensive ground water resources. Approximately 210 hectares have been developed to center pivot irrigation, with approval in place for another 294 hectares underpinned by a 9,500 megaliter license on “Shamrock Station” from the Broome Sandstone aquifer. 

AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest institutional investment managers, which invests on a global scale on behalf of 17 pension, endowment, and government funds in the Province of Alberta, Canada. With offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, London, Luxembourg, and Singapore, today, AIMCo has more than CAD$158 billion in AUM.  

It has been an investor in Australia for many years – initially in forestry, and more recently expanding into agriculture when it acquired Lawson Grains in partnership with global forestry investment manager New Forests for $600 million in January 2022.

Its investment partner in this deal – New Agriculture – is an agriculture investment manager headquartered in Australia that was launched in September 2022 by New Forests to both manage Lawson Grains, and as a means to expand horizons as a global vehicle through which to build a portfolio of agricultural assets beginning in Australia and New Zealand, and eventually expanding into developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe, GAI News was told.

Bruce King, director with New Agriculture, commented, “Kimberley Cattle Portfolio offers a key opportunity to manage for strong investment outcomes alongside leading sustainability objectives. With up to 25 percent of the solution to climate change expected to come from the land use sector, we have a responsibility to manage these landscapes for sustainability outcomes, and with our local communities in mind.”

“Over the past seven years we have put in place strategic watering points, fencing, yard, road and  accommodation infrastructure to increase carrying capacity and create an entity that does not require management on every property, but can be run from a centralized management group, with teams deployed as needed,” noted Sale in October.

“There is, however, still scope to further grow efficiencies and water development – and again  increase the number of stock that can be run across the aggregation.” 

“Our intention is to apply the same level of rigor and commitment to sustainability that New Forests has in the forestry space to the agriculture sector,” concluded King. “New Agriculture will continue to focus on sustainability practices which allow for not only the protection and restoration of landscapes, but which also lead to the enhancement of natural capital over time.”

For now, the transaction awaits approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and approval by the Western Australia Lands Department, both of which are expected to be completed within the first half of 2024. 

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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