Australian agriculture investment manager Warakirri Asset Management has made two vineyard investments worth A$62.5m (€40m) for the Warakirri Farmland Fund in a sale and leaseback deal with Australian Vintage Limited (AVG).

The vineyards - Coldridge in South Australia and Grande Junction in NSW, are sited on more than 1,300 hectares of land and include a portfolio of water entitlements.

“The Australian wine industry retains strong fundamentals and good future growth prospects,” said Warakirri Farmland Fund’s portfolio manager, Steve Jarrott.

He said: “With our strategy and investment philosophy, patient long-term perspective, and a high-quality partner like AVG, this land and water-rich vineyard investment is a great way for the Fund to gain exposure to this sector.”

AVL Wines’ CEO Craig Garvin said Warakirri had committed to further enhance and develop the vineyards thereby improving yield output.

The Warakirri Farmland Fund was launched in 2021 and developed specifically for domestic and international institutional investors, after securing significant seed funding from one of Europe’s leading pension funds.

The fund buys, develops and owns a diversified portfolio of investment-grade agricultural property and leases the assets to agricultural businesses, as “tenant partners”. Target assets include horticulture, viticulture, water entitlements and selected row crop farmland assets.

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