Select Harvests Limited is set to acquire Piangil Almond Orchard for $129 million, as the company continues to grow and optimise its almond orchard base in the north-west Victoria region.
The Piangil Almond Orchard is located in Piangil, around 86 kilometres from Select Harvests’ Carina West processing facility, and is expected to increase almond production by 4600 square tonnes in its first full year for Select Harvests.
The acquisition includes 1566 hectares of almond orchards, the 2021 almond crop, water entitlements, as well as some plant and equipment, and a further 641 hectares of unplanted land.
It will be funded by a combination of new debt facilities, and the proceeds from a $120 million underwritten entitlement offer.
Select Harvests managing director Paul Thompson said the acquisition will add significant scale to the company’s orchard portfolio.
“The Piangil Almond Orchard has an attractive maturity profile with a weighted average age of 10.9 years and approximately 25 per cent immature plantings,” said Thompson.
“It has demonstrated consistently high yields in recent years and is a top quartile orchard. The recent bloom at the orchard was strong, indicating the potential for another above industry average crop in 2021. Post the acquisition we remain within our water strategy.”
Select Harvests said its “immediate focus” will be to invest in equipment and infrastructure to improve yield, quality, harvest risk mitigation and irrigation efficiency.
Select Harvests ranked in at #92 in the Top 100 Australia Food and Drink Companies report 2019.
