A US-based company will snap up a property portfolio spanning 225,000 hectares of iconic New South Wales farming land if a landmark $780m deal is given the green light.

Australian Food and Agriculture (AFA) will offload its sheep, cattle, and cropping properties in the New South Wales districts of Deniliquin, Hay, and Coonamble, including iconic Australian Merino sheep stations Boonoke and Wanganella.

The sale will also include over 55,000 megalitres of water entitlements. 

AFA was previously controlled by Colin Bell, who died in 2022, with his property portfolio listed for sale in September 2023.

The buyers of the AFA portfolio are foreign investors made up of a special purpose fund co-created by Bert Glover, founder of the Australian and US-owned specialist agricultural investment and development firm Impact Ag Partners which has offices in Armidale in NSW and Montana in the US.

The business co-op includes the NASDAQ-listed and Cayman Islands incorporated Agriculture and Natural Solutions Acquisition Corporation, the US-owned Riverstone Investment Group, and Impact Ag Partners.

The sale remains subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

If the purchase was successful Mr Glover said his intention would be for businesses to run as usual with staff retained.

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Mr Glover said the portfolio suits the venture’s “thesis” which is based around agriculture as a nature-based climate solution and a decarbonisation strategy.

“After researching over 100 companies across North and South America what we found in Australia, in AFA, was very much on our thesis,” he said.

“It’s got diverse aggregations of land, it’s got a diverse set of water assets, it’s exposed to multiple climate zones, and for us it’s got quite a range of commodities that it produces.”

Carbon farming not the focus for now

Agriculture and Natural Solutions Acquisition Corporation has a focus on carbon and biodiversity opportunities, however Mr Glover said that would not be an immediate focus in its acquisition of AFA.

“Nothing at this stage really stands out for us,” Mr Glover said.

“One thing I’ve learned is that you really need to understand the real assets you’re working with — the soil, the plants, the properties, the people, the operations — before you make substantial changes in real assets and farming.

“In many cases, especially in relation to removals, and if you’re talking soil carbon it very much relies on agriculture. 

“The assets of AFA are very much for agricultural production, and for the production of food and fibre, and we don’t see any change in that.”

The AFA properties were previously listed in 2017 for more than $300 million but failed to sell at the time.