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- Australia’s largest almond grower Select Harvests (SHV) is set to acquire the Piangil Almond Orchard in northwest Victoria for a total of $129 million
- The deal was signed with United Almonds, Bright Light Agribusiness and Lake Lucas Almonds and is expected to close by the end of this year
- Once complete, the acquisition is expected to expand Select Harvests’ planted area by 20 per cent and increase yearly almond production by roughly 4,600 tonnes
- To facilitate the transaction, the company will undertake a fully underwritten entitle meant offer and placement to raise $120 million
- Select Harvests closed 1.97 per cent in the red for $5.46 each
Australia’s largest almond grower Select Harvests (SHV) is set to acquire the Piangil Almond Orchard in northwest Victoria for $129 million.
The deal was signed with United Almonds, Bright Light Agribusiness and Lake Lucas Almonds, and expected to close by the end of this year.
Located 86 kilometres from the company’s Carina West Processing Facility, in the Sunraysia almond growing region, the acquisition will include 1,177 hectares of mature and 389 hectares of immature plantings, as well as certain equipment and a 2021-ready almond crop.
Once complete, the transaction is anticipated to expand Select Harvests’ planted area by 20 per cent and increase yearly almond production by approximately 4,600 tonnes in its first full year, growing to 5,400 tonnes at the orchard’s projected maturity in 2026.
According to yesterday’s news, the added production will optimise the company’s utilisation of the Carina West Processing Facility, thereby lowering per-unit production costs.
Paul Thompson, Managing Director of Select Harvests, noted that the Piangil Almond Orchard had demonstrated consistently high yields in recent years.
“The Piangil Almond Orchard has an attractive maturity profile with a weighted average age of 10.9 years and approximately 25 per cent immature plantings,” he said.
“The recent bloom at the orchard was strong, indicating the potential for another above industry average crop in 2021,” he added.
The transaction will be funded using a combination of new debt facilities and the proceeds from a $120 million fully underwritten entitlement offer and placement.
Under the terms of the placement, Select Harvests intends to issue approximately 23.1 million new fully paid ordinary shares – the equivalent of roughly 23.9 per cent of the company’s existing shares on issue, at a price of $5.20 each.
It will consist of two components. The first will be a one-for-6.3 entitlement offer under which Select Harvests will issue 15.3 million shares to raise roughly $80 million.
The second component will be a fully underwritten placement, whereby the company will issue 7.7 million new shares to raise $40 million.
Select Harvests closed 1.97 per cent in the red for $5.46 each.
