A major horticultural glasshouse in Katunga has been sold to a Sydney-based real estate fund manager.
The 21 hectare Katunga Fresh was established and developed by the Van Goor family.
Although the off-market purchase price was not revealed, the business would have been worth millions of dollars.
The business was sold to the Centuria Capital Group, under a lease-back arrangement to be run by Katunga Fresh.
The Centuria Capital Group already holds five, large scale tomato-growing glasshouses.
The transaction increases Centuria’s total agriculture assets under management to $0.65 billion with a total glasshouse portfolio of more than 100 hectares.
The Katunga acquisition increases Centuria’s specialised agricultural assets under management to about $450 million.
Katunga Fresh is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of tomatoes and it has operated from this site for 20 years, supplying Australia’s major supermarkets with year-round produce.
The business uses special lighting technology to increase growing hours and the operation can produce about 16,000 tonnes of truss tomatoes a year.
In addition to glasshouse facilities, the acquisition includes large packing sheds, energy infrastructure, significant bore water licences and substantial on-site water storage capacity.
Katunga Fresh uses renewable energy technology to hold down costs.