UK pension fund invests in northern Australian agribusiness
NAPCO covers 5.8 million hectares and runs approximately 200,000 head of cattle
UK-based Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has invested in the North Australian Pastoral Company (NAPCO), acquiring a stake in a consortium led by the Queensland Government-owned Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) for an undisclosed sum.
One of Australia’s oldest and largest agribusinesses and beef producers, the vertically integrated NAPCO covers 5.8 million hectares and runs approximately 200,000 head of cattle on 13 cattle stations spread across Queensland and the Northern Territory, as well as the Wainui Feedlot on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
NAPCO has also fostered one of the largest advanced composite breeding programs anywhere in the world, developing two highly regarded cattle composite breeds – the Alexandria composite and the Kynuna composite.
Superannuation capital
Under the NAPCO transaction, funds advised by QIC*, including the UK’s PPF and Australian superannuation capital, will hold some 80 per cent of the company. This includes the currently owned 34.37 per cent stake bought by QIC from the UK-listed investment group, MP Evans. Former owners, the Foster family, will retain a 20 per cent stake.
Alan Goodman, senior portfolio manager at PPF, said the pension fund would acquire 19.9 per cent of NAPCO as part of the deal, and the asset would sit within the fund’s timberland and farmland portfolio.
Queensland Treasurer, Curtis Pitt, noted QIC was making the investment on behalf of Australian and British pension funds. He added that the investment was a strong vote of confidence in Queensland and the announcement of the deal ‘unlocks the investment needed to grow this business’.
Marcus Simpson, who oversaw the deal for QIC, said the consortium’s vision for NAPCO ‘is to see it prosper by capitalising on strong beef demand driven by growth in Asia, which is expected to account for 47 per cent of global beef demand by 2024’.
Source AUSTRADE
*The Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) is one of the largest institutional investment managers in Australia, with a global portfolio of A$78.5 billion in funds under management.
