Australasian real estate fund manager Centuria Capital has acquired the management rights to an agricultural real estate fund from Arrow Funds Management for an unspecified sum.
Arrow Fund is the responsible entity for Arrow Primary Infrastructure Fund (APIF), which manages a A$444m (€250m) portfolio of agricultural assets across Australia, and its stapled operating fund, Arrow Operations Trust.
APIF’s 22 properties are primarily leased to Australian primary production tenants. Its assets include poultry and pork facilities, almond, macadamia and mango orchards as well as dried fruit vineyards and an organic glasshouse.
The acquisition, which will be funded using existing cash and undrawn debt, has lifted Centuria’s exposure to agriculture to around A$1.3bn, after its recent purchase of a hydroponic glasshouse operation from Canada’s PSP Investments for A$168m.
John McBain, Centuria joint CEO, said: “This acquisition adds further scale and operational expertise to Centuria’s agriculture division.
“Centuria’s growth in agricultural real estate has been part of a deliberate strategy to diversify into high conviction alternative real estate sectors, which we commenced in the post-COVID period and have subsequently scaled beyond A$1bn of assets under management.”
Jason Huljich, Centuria joint CEO, said Centuria would be able to offer agricultural investment opportunities to enhance the Arrow portfolio by applying the proven disciplined methodology that had guided Arrow’s achievements over the years.
Andrew Tout, Centuria head of Agriculture, said: “This transaction delivers major geographic and commodity diversity, focused on efficient protein production by Australia’s leading farmers. We look forward to working with the Arrow Team to drive stability and growth.”
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