ADM ally regains big stake in grain target

Ellerston confirmed it owns 7.61 per cent of GrainCorp's share capital - ahead of its previous 6.5pc stake which had made it the biggest single shareholder until October 2012.

The specialist fund manager has been buying GrainCorp shares for the past few months.

GrainCorp's share price was about $8.90 this week, having risen from about $7.60/share in late February to peak at $9 early this month.

In late April Ellerston was registered as a substantial shareholder with a 6.3pc stake.

Ellerston was originally established as a division of the Packer family holding company Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) in 2004, named after the family's trophy Hunter Valley grazing property "Ellerston".

Believed to manage an investment portfolio worth about $3 billion, it has a history of investing in the agribusiness sector, originally buying GrainCorp shares in 2008.

The funds management business also held a solid stake in the former AWB Limited and was a 13pc shareholder in the Goodman Fielder food business which sold its edible fats and oil assets to GrainCorp in 2012.

The Packers' CPH downgraded its stake in Ellerston in August 2011 to about 25pc after family head and Casino mogul James Packer stood down from its board.

The investment company is now 75pc owned by a trust of Ellerston employees, including chairman Ashok Jacob, a long time adviser to the late Kerry Packer.

Ellerston Capital was Grain-Corp's biggest shareholder prior to ADM acquiring its 19.8pc stake, made possible by Ellerston and AMP selling portions of their investment to the giant US agribusiness to enable its $3.2 billion bid to buy the company.