HORTICULTURAL giant Costa Group and Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management have inked their first deal since partnering up to buy farmland.
The pair have signed an agreement to acquire Avocado Ridge orchards and packing operations from the Carney family.
Macquarie will purchase the land, located in Childers in Central Queensland, and Costa will lease it for 20 years.
Avocado Ridge has 69,000 trees which span 300 hectares. The acquisition brings Costa’s total avocado plantings up from 100 hectares to 400ha.
The deal will mean Costa can vertically integrate its avocado operations for the first time.
The acquisition (the price of which remains undisclosed) will be completed in January. Costa and Macquarie will continue to seek merger and acquisition deals together.
To date, Costa has focused on berries, mushrooms, citrus and glasshouse tomatoes. It recently invested in a berry farming operation in China to complement its berry operations in Morocco.