This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SOUTHERN Premium Vineyards (SPV), owned by Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), is acquiring 7,215 hectares of vineyards, including water entitlements, plant and equipment, across 35 properties in South Australia and NSW from Australia’s biggest family-owned winemaker.
SPV is PSP Investments’ platform that owns Australian vineyards – including 460 hectares of vineyards in South Australia’s Coonawarra and Barossa Valley regions – and is acquiring the assets as part of a long-term strategic partnership with Casella Family Brands that includes a long-term grape supply agreement.
SPV will take on management of the vineyards and all associated employees.
The deal includes 5,650 hectares of planted vineyards, 1,608 hectares supporting land/property with the vineyards, extensive plant and equipment and water entitlements.
The Foreign Investment Review Board has approved the deal.
“We are pleased to be entering this partnership with SPV, a platform of PSP Investments, which is an investor with a proven track record of successful long-term investment in agribusiness in Australia and around the world,” said Casella’s CEO, John Casella.
“We are confident that SPV will continue to deliver the quality and consistency of the grapes we require, safeguard and preserve the vineyards and ensure the wellbeing of its employees.”
SPV director Nick Gill said SPV’s strategy is to offer wine companies a multi-regional grape supply solution for their wine grape sourcing as an alternative to owning or leasing vineyards.
“Our commitment to sustainable farming combined with our long-term investment horizon allows PSP Investments to lever Australia’s unique global competitive position for its quality wine grapes,” said Marc Drouin, senior managing director, Real Assets and global head of natural resources investments, PSP Investments.
“Casella is a best-in-class group with an impressive portfolio of vineyards in some of the country’s most highly regarded wine regions. This acquisition is a cornerstone investment for both SPV and PSP Investments’ global wine portfolio.”
As well as Australia’s largest family-owned winery, Casella is also Australia’s largest exporter by volume. Its flagship brand Yellow Tail makes up about 17% of all Australian exported wine, and has been awarded the world’s number one Most Powerful Wine Brand for five years in a row by Wine Intelligence’s Brand Power Index.
PSP has a broad portfolio of Australian agricultural investments and partnerships. Recent acquisitions include PSP-backed Aurora Dairies buying four dairy farms in Victoria’s Gippsland, and PSP-backed Hewitt Cattle Australia collecting 1.1 million hectares of land including the Narwietooma, Napperby, Glen Helen and Derwent stations north west of Alice Springs.
The investments also include irrigated farming, broadacre crops, tree nuts, and fruits and vegetables.
Colliers’ Tim Altschwager and Nick Dean handle the transaction.
