Sydney-based farm management company, Gunn Agri Partners, has acquired 36,000 hectares in Queensland for $11 million, according to Queensland Country Life.

 

The firm, which is headed by Alan Hoppe, former chief operating officer in Brazil for Macquarie Group, has purchased three cattle stations including Ballaroo with 11,463 hectares, Ekari Park with 12,239 hectares, and Fairview with 11,393 hectares. The portfolio of properties carries with it a combined capacity to run 6,000 head of cattle.

 

The state of Queensland has seen a very active year for its cattle property market. This deal for the Ballaroo portfolio follows China’s Hailiang Group acquiring Hollymount Station outside St. George, Australia Country Choice acquiring the Opal Creek feedlot, and AWX labor hire boss, Tom Strachan acquiring Lighthouse Station in September.

 

The portfolio offers Gunn Agri a variety of opportunities for expansion including the creating of an intense fattening operation involving the establishment of a cattle depot, or as a potential addition of scale to an integrated supply chain.

 

“Leveraging off its attractive location, the opportunity to establish a strategic footprint in the red meat supply chain of such scale in a single transaction, was a key selling factor that drew significant interest from local, interstate and offshore investors,” said CBRE Agribusiness’ Chris Holgar, who negotiated the deal along with Geoff Warner, reports Real Commercial.