KANGAROO Island’s largest agricultural holding – Cygnet Park Farms – is up for sale, giving investors and farming businesses a unique opportunity to buy a huge chunk of mixed farming land.
A decade after experienced cattleman Peter Murray and his long-time business partner, media mogul Kerry Stokes, began buying land on the island, they have put the 7821-hectare portfolio on the market.
The significant listing comprising 35 titles spread across nine properties, plus livestock, is expected to fetch more than $40 million.
The land is spread across the island from 2824ha Woodlana at Cassini, on the central north coast, and another 2024ha nearby at Longhill, Yerda and Carpenters, to 1606ha Naroonda, south of Parndana.
Two other properties – 520ha Benney’s and 846ha Riggs – are further west.
Woodlana was bought for $4.7m in mid-2015.
Elders is marketing the properties by expressions of interest walk in-walk out as a whole or as individual parcels, contingent on it all being sold.
The livestock offering includes 3300 Angus cattle and nearly 16,000 composite ewes.
Mr Murray wants to focus on other business interests as he nears retirement.
“I am proud of the quality portfolio of both real estate and livestock assets that we have built in one of the world’s most pristine agricultural environments,” he said.
He will retain a smaller portfolio of properties.
“I remain convinced it is one of the best livestock production regions in Australia and has enormous opportunities to deliver high margin quality produce to the world,” he said.
Elders real estate general manager Tom Russo says it is a “truly unique offering” for both scale and attributes.
“There is unprecedented demand for clean, traceable food products in the Asia Pacific region and further abroad,” he said.
“KI is ideally positioned to respond to this demand given its unique agricultural setting, enhanced biosecurity, genetically-modified-free status and unpolluted environment.”
Mr Russo expects strong interest in the six-week marketing period.
“The market for highly-productive cattle operations remains very competitive as we continue to see favourable market conditions and few opportunities to acquire quality holdings of scale,” he said.
