Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Ltd has appointed CBRE’s Agribusiness team to steer the much-anticipated sale of its Liverpool Plains’ landholdings in north west NSW.
CBRE will stage a pre-campaign launch event in Gunnedah ahead of the formal Expressions of Interest campaign commencing later this month.
Significant buyer interest is anticipated from local farmers, institutional investors and corporate farming organisations given the scale and location of the landholdings, which total approximately 16,570ha.
The sale process follows an agreement this year with the NSW Government under which Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Ltd returned its exploration license and withdrew its mining license for the site.
Shenhua representative Chris Walker said a competitive pitch process had led to the appointment of CBRE’s Agribusiness team to sell the underlying property assets, based on the team’s strong governance processes and extensive local and national experience.
“We have owned the majority of these assets for over ten years and have formed good relationships with the farmers who have continued to work the land during this time,” Mr Walker said.
“With CBRE’s help we look forward to moving the properties over to the farming community and returning the land to agricultural pursuits.”
The Shenhua landholdings comprise three aggregations, Breeza, Tambar Springs and Barraba, which are located in and around the Gunnedah region. The holdings are currently leased to seven tenants, who both occupy and manage various titles under independent lease agreements.
CBRE Agribusiness Managing Director David Goodfellow said the sales process would provide local farmers with equal opportunities to compete against larger corporate agribusiness investors.
“A landholding of this size and annual productivity is very suitable for a combination of local farming businesses to acquire individual sites to add onto their existing operations,” Mr Goodfellow said.
“It will also be appealing to the corporate agribusiness sector who can see the huge economic benefits of properties with very large scale. In addition, the site offers potential benefits from the creation of carbon credits, which adds to the overall financial returns.”
Breeza is the largest of the three aggregations at circa 14,246ha and comprises 14 properties acquired between 2009 and 2010 in addition to three dwellings and an office located in the township of Gunnedah.
Located in the Curlewis/Breeza locality, the aggregation is currently used for dryland cropping (cereals, legumes and cotton) and beef cattle grazing with the opportunity to irrigate, benefited by access to water access entitlements.
The circa 1,208 Tambar Springs aggregation comprises two non-contiguous holdings within two kilometres of each other. The holdings are currently used for both mixed dryland cropping and beef cattle production.
The Barraba aggregation has a total land area of 1,114ha and comprises two non-contiguous, nearby landholdings. Approximately 583ha is considered grazing land, with the balance comprising remnant vegetation. The land area is principally used for beef cattle production.
CBRE Agribusiness Manager James Auty noted that the Gunnedah region was well-known for its highly productive soils, its wide range of well-proven agricultural systems and its typically even distribution of rainfall throughout the year.
“This means the region can grow pastures for breeding and fattening livestock right through the year as well as growing both summer crops and winter crops for grain and/or fodder – lending these landholdings to an incredibly wide range of purposes,” Mr Auty said.
“In addition, some of the land is also highly suited to native forest regeneration for the production of carbon credits, which are quickly becoming very valuable given the current corporate demand to achieve zero net emissions targets.”
Expressions of Interest in the Shenhua landholdings will close on August 26, 2021
Source: CBRE