Private Land and Property Fund (NZX: PLP) Portfolio Adds Hop Garden

Thursday 25th March 2021

The investment into hop growing land alongside an existing operator provides further geographic and crop diversification to the fund which is currently invested in viticulture and kiwifruit land. New Zealand hops are known and sought after for their unique aromatic character and demand has been increasing due to the rise in the consumption of craft beer, which requires greater quantities of hops.

The Private Land and Property Portfolio will make a cash investment of $7 million for a 50% shareholding in Waimea West Hops Limited (‘WWH’) which currently farms 28.5 hectares of mature hops in Brightwater, near Nelson.

Further development is planned to expand the farm to total approximately 83 hectares of hop gardens. This development, which is budgeted to cost up to $15 million, will be funded from the $7 million capital introduced by the Private Land and Property Portfolio in combination with new bank funding to WWH. The planned development includes the purchase of additional land (most of which is under contract), as well as an upgrade to the existing picking and processing equipment to improve the quality and processing capacity of the plant. The fast-growing nature of hop plants means the new gardens will be fully mature within 3 years of initial planting.

The expected returns from this investment are forecast to be accretive to the overall return generated by the fund, though it is recognised that the over the 4-year development phase of the additional gardens the cash return from the overall investment will be relatively modest.

Following this transaction, PLP (through its investment in the Private Land and Property Portfolio) will have property related assets of over $80 million, which, after borrowings, have a net asset value of over $62 million.

Please see the link below for details:

Private Land & Property Portfolio adds Hop Garden

Source: Private Land and Property Fund

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