Daniel Kemp
The Sydney-based manager is leaning on climate-change research to pick properties and is ‘confident’ returns will beat more passive strategies.
Foreign Investment Review Board figures show the UK is the largest overseas holder of Australian farmland, followed by China.
Investment directors Michael Blakeney and Nick Waters are leaving in a development that MD Kim Morison described as ‘disappointing.’
The deal represents PSP’s latest major investment in Australian agriculture and has received FIRB approval.
Regal will also help raise funds for the Kilter Water Fund, while two of its directors will join Kilter’s board.
The sale is the latest move in an ongoing review following the announcement of the cooperative’s first ever annual loss in September 2018.
The Australian company, owned by Terra Firma, further sells down its portfolio in the $97m deal with the little-known investor.
The state government is privatising the digital functions of Landgate, excluding manual processing, to make the asset more attractive to investors.
Agriculture Down Under is an export-oriented industry, with around 25% going to China and a significant chunk also heading to the US, which means it faces being caught in the middle of tensions between the two superpowers.
The year ahead could see a shift in how some foreign investors seek to gain exposure to agriculture Down Under.