Sunland Fresh Fruit Orchards

Jul 22, 2018

Share supplied Corporate heavy hitters Nigel Sharp and Harry Youngman have emerged as the buyers of the De Maio family's Sunland Fresh Fruit, one of the country's biggest privately owned fruit growing operations. Property records show the pair's Orana Agriculture acquired Sunland's 176-hectare Barooga orchards on Coldwells Road, near Cobram, for $9.6 million and paid another $4 million for Sunland's 44-hectare packing shed complex on the Murray Valley Highway. Orana also paid $5.13 million for three farming parcels known as Densen, Okane and Pullars offering a combined 100-hectares and $1 million for the power station on a separate title, bringing the total spend to almost $20 million. Property records indicate the De Maio family has retained a residential property on a 31-hectare block in Cobram. Sunland Fresh Fruit has moree than 200,000 trees in Cobram Victoria, and Barooga, NSW. supplied The entire Sunland business, incorporating 363 hectares of orchards, shedding and production facilities spread across seven individual properties, as well as the fruit production business, was put up for sale in June last year through agents Colliers International and  Andrew Jenkins Real Estate with a price tag of $25 million. Advertisement Sunland produces peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, persimmons, pears and apples, which are sold in all major supermarket chains in Australia. A portion of the fruit is exported to China. The company produced almost 8000 tonnes of fruit in 2016 and was forecast to grow this to more than 11,000 tonnes by 2018 following an expansion of plantings. Orana Agriculture was set up in late 2016 by Mr Sharp and Mr Youngman. A third director is Melbourne-based Andrew Hanson Mr Sharp is a director at rural fund manager Kilter Rural and prior to that, was CEO of Australia Asia Investment Management, which floated the Flinders Industrial Property Trust which grew to have a $300 million property portfolio before being taken over Stockland. Mr Youngman is a director at Melbourne-based investment firm Lyons Capital and also runs beef producer Ardgartan Pastoral Company in Grassdale in south western Victoria. Selling agents Colliers International declined to comment, citing the wishes of the vendors and buyers. However, the firm did issue a press release last year to publicise the sale of Sunland. An information memorandum prepared by Colliers International notes that the sale of Sunland came "at a time when our near Asian neighbours are displaying an insatiable appetite for our clean green quality fresh produce". The property was offered for sale with significant water entitlements of almost 2500 megalitres from deep and shallow bores, channels and the Murray River with infrastructure and plant and equipment. The De Maio family sold Sunland with an offer to continue to manage the asset for multiple seasons "to give the incoming purchaser ample time to understand the asset, its excellent productive capacity, and its expanding markets". Share