Gunn Agri cattle fund targets A$300m, holds first close

Australian management firm Gunn Agri Partners has held a first close on its Gunn Agri Cattle Fund, which has a final target of A$300 million ($214.58 million; €196.85 million), it said in a statement from the fund manager.

The fund acquires and operates cattle production assets in Australia and is targeting properties in Queensland. The mandate extends to northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

The capital raised so far, an undisclosed amount, has been fully deployed.

The Gunn Agri Cattle Fund has already bought more one million acres of land in eastern Australia, including 36,000 hectares in the Maranoa region. It has been operating the property since December 2015 through the fund’s sole operator, the Cunningham Cattle Company. The fund is thought to have paid $11 million for the Queensland portfolio.

It also recently bought the North Queensland Cattle Station for a reported A$40 million and has assets in southern Queensland. The fund is in talks with vendors about further property.

Gunn Agri chief executive officer Alan Hoppe, formerly chief operating officer for Macquarie Group in Brazil, said: “The Cattle Fund portfolio has scale and diversification in both climate and end-markets with assets suited to breeding, growing out and fattening cattle.”

Gunn Agri Partners vice-chairman Jim Sutcliffe said: “Gunn Agri’s focus is on developing platforms that align the interests of investors and management. We aim to achieve this through transparent cost structures that don’t levy management fees for ongoing operations.”