Seeka Limited has entered into an agreement to sell a 20 canopy hectare Kerikeri SunGold kiwifruit orchard to Booster’s listed Private Land & Property Portfolio, which is the sole investment of the recently listed Private Land and Property Fund.
The sale is for $15.5m (plus GST if any), payable on settlement, and there is also a potential further payment in 5 years based on orchard production (of up to approximately a further $1 million).
The orchard is leased back by Seeka for a fixed rate, securing supply of the fruit to Seeka in-line with its stated Northland strategy. Under the lease, Seeka will also manage the orchard. The orchard was previously part of the KeriFruit Farm orchard owned by Turners and Growers Horticulture Limited, which Seeka converted to Zespri SunGold this year.
The proceeds of the sale would be used to both repay debt and to fund the continuing infrastructure development project at Seeka’s Waipapa Road Post-Harvest facility.
Seeka’s Chief Executive, Michael Franks said he was pleased with the transaction. The sale releases capital, repays debt and secures supply. Importantly, it also introduces PLPP and Booster as exciting strategic partners to Seeka, with a number of the varieties targeted by PLPP and Booster fitting Seeka’s portfolio. The relationship potentially allows for considerable future growth through gold kiwifruit development of currently unplanted land included in the sale."
Settlement of the transaction is expected to take place on 30 September 2019, and Seeka will update the market on the sales and settlement progress once the sale completes.
For more information: 
Michael Franks
Seeka
Tel: +61 021 356 516