Costa Group looking to sell hort farms worth $300m
Sources said Costa Asset Management – chaired by Robert Costa, who co-founded Costa Group with his brother and former Geelong Football Club chairman Frank Costa – may have appointed Kidder Williams to field offers for 14 properties including those operated and leased by Costa Group.
The move would unwind some of the Costa family's related-party transactions with the listed Costa Group, an arrangement queried by a number of investors and analysts since the group listed in July 2015.
The properties leased to Costa Group include blueberry and raspberry farms on the NSW North Coast’s Corindi district; blueberries in Tumbarumba in southern NSW; blueberries, raspberries and blackberries near Devonport in northern Tasmania; and citrus in the South Australian Riverland.
Sources said the properties could be sold for as much as $300 million, citing recent transactions including John Nicoletti's sale of his expansive Western Australian farming operations with a 10-year lease to CK Life Sciences in 2016, representing a yield of 6 per cent.
source: queenslandcountryllife.com.au
