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- Primewest (PWG) has acquired a 100 per cent stake in GoFarm Asset Management, the current manager of the Vitalharvest Freehold Trust (VTH)
- Simultaneously, PWG picked up an 11.8 per cent stake in Vitalharvest, and is now the major shareholder in the trust
- Vitalharvest is an Australian property management group dedicated to working agricultural properties and owns Australia’s largest group of berry and citrus farms
- Primewest paid $10 million from its cash reserves to fund the GoFarm purchase
- The transaction grows Primewest’s assets under management by seven per cent to hit a total of $4.4 billion
- Primewest remains grey following the news, last trading for $1.05 per share
Primewest (PWG) has acquired a 100 per cent interest in GoFarm Asset Management.
GoFarm is the manager of the ASX-listed Vitalharvest Freehold Trust (VTH), an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on agricultural properties.
Primewest paid $10 million to GoFarm, funded from the company’s current cash reserves.
Primewest also collected a right of first refusal over a further 6.2 per cent interest in Vitalharvest, subject to a range of conditions.
The purpose of the transaction is to allow Primewest, and, by extension, their shareholders, a greater exposure to real, working agricultural properties.
Vitalharvest owns Australia’s largest group of berry and citrus farms, all of which are leased to Australia’s largest horticultural company, Costa Group.
Vitalharvest currently holds approximately $275 million in assets under management, and adding GoFarm to its portfolio would increase its own assets by seven per cent.
This would take Primewests’s total assets under management to $4.4 billion.
As part of the deal, Primewest also acquired an 11.8 per cent strategic interest in Vitalharvest and has now become the company’s largest shareholder.
Primewest has stated that it retains $43 million in available cash to explore other growth initiatives, outside of the GoFarm and Vitalharvest acquisitions.
The Executive Chairman of Primewest, John Bond, said “this transaction is an exciting step forward for Primewest and consistent with the strategy to expand our distribution capability into listed Australian REITs.
“Importantly, Primewest will co-invest along with other VTH investors as its largest investors,” he continued.
“We look forward to working with VTH’s existing investors in its next stage of growth” John commented.
Primewest remains grey following the news, last trading for $1.05 per share at 10:43 am AEST.
