Centuria Capital Group has acquired a A$21.5m (€13m) greenhouse and glasshouse facility within the Adelaide Plains, South Australia, for its open-ended unlisted agriculture fund from horticulture group P’Petual Holdings.

Jason Huljich, Centuria joint CEO, said the Adelaide Plains acquisition is aligned with the Centuria Agriculture Fund’s (CAF) investment strategy to acquire “high-quality agricultural assets, leased to reputable operators with strong ESG credentials and in higher revenue producing sectors such as protected cropping”.

The asset, located at 234 Carmelo Road, Riverlea Park SA, provides 12 hectares of protected cropping within a 59-hectare land parcel. This includes six hectares of glasshouses and six hectares of double skinned plastic greenhouses.

Additionally, the asset includes large packing sheds along with onsite energy, fertigation and reverse osmosis infrastructure and licences for water rights.

The acquisition also includes a development application approval for an additional four-hectare glasshouse, providing a value-add opportunity to further enhance CAF’s size and footprint in the agricultural real estate sector.

P’Petual Holdings continues to operate the asset. The operator has a 10-year triple-net lease with annual rent escalations with Centuria.

Andrew Tout, Centuria head of agriculture, said the Centuria investment provided P’Petual the opportunity to scale-up and implement operational efficiencies.

CAF was launched in July 2022 as a new alternative fund vehicle for Centuria. It now owns four assets, valued at A$351m, and a weighted average lease expiry of 17 years.

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