Following its recent merger with Centuria Capital Group, Primewest has launched a new wholesale unlisted agricultural fund, Primewest Agricultural Trust No. 2, seeded with a
$53.9 million almond farm located in NSW’s renowned Riverina region.

Primewest will seek to raise $34 million from wholesale investors to fund the acquisition of “Moora” Almond Orchard located in Hillston, NSW. The almond farm is recognised as the
“jewel in the crown” of the Western Rosella farming portfolio and one of Australia’s foremost agricultural offerings.

The transaction provides a 12-year, triple-net lease from settlement to Lachlan River Almonds Pty Ltd, which is owned by diversified Australian investment group, Roc Partners. Roc has substantial agricultural and horticultural businesses such as Flavorite Tomatoes and Stone Axe Pastoral Company.

Moora is a 524-hectare property with 434 hectares of well established, productive almond trees at the right stage of maturity. Its water entitlements include over 7100 megalitres of Lower Lachlan groundwater and 700 megalitres of Lachlan Regulated River Water Source (high security).

The acquisition and fund launch reaffirms Primewest’s confidence in Australia’s agricultural sector having recently closed its first agricultural trust following settlement of three significant vineyard and orchard landholdings in Victoria and South Australia.

Primewest Director, David Schwartz said “The launch of our second wholesale agricultural Trust is testament to our confidence in Australia’s agricultural sector and investor appetite for these investments. We are further expanding our footprint into the fruit and nut orchard sector and the expansive Moora almond farm will further diversify our agricultural portfolio, not just by crop type but also geographical location.

“We have taken a counter-cyclical approach to investing in the agricultural sector, building a suite of quality agricultural investments that benefit from strong water supply. The strategy has resonated well with our long-standing investor base. Moora is underpinned by water security, paired with the underlying high-quality land and quality operator. This is exactly what our investors are seeking.”

Jason Huljich, Centuria Joint CEO, added, “We are pleased to be working with our new colleagues on the launch of their second agricultural trust. David and his team are adept at delivering quality investment vehicles and, with our larger combined balance sheet, we aim to help facilitate the acquisition of further quality agricultural real estate assets.”

Primewest has a strong pipeline of potential future acquisitions for the new Primewest Agricultural Trust No.2.