New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund has made its first offshore farm investment, taking a stake in Australian cattle business Palgrove.

The investment increases the number of farms in its portfolio to 33, worth approximately NZD340m (€207m) in aggregate.

New Zealand Super Fund now has around 1% of its NZD35.7bn of assets invested in rural farmland.

NZ Super’s chief investment officer Matt Whineray describes Palgrove as a high quality, highly successful business that complements the fund’s existing investment portfolio.

“We continue to see rural land as an attractive long-term investment and a good diversifier for our portfolio,” he said.

The transaction has been approved by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

Palgrove was established near Stanthorpe in Queensland in 1969 and now runs some 5,000 head of cattle at properties spread across Queensland and New South Wales.