Private Land & Property Portfolio Adds Kiwifruit Orchard
Media Release and NZX Transaction Announcement
25 September 2019
Booster’s Private Land & Property Portfolio adds Kiwifruit Orchard
Booster is adding a 20-hectare Kerikeri kiwifruit orchard to its Private Land & Property Portfolio, the sole
investment of the Private Land and Property Fund, which listed on the NZX last week. The purchase of a
kiwifruit orchard provides further geographic and crop diversification to the fund, which previously
invested mainly in viticulture.
The Private Land & Property Fund is Booster’s solution for savers struggling with low interest rates. It
aims to deliver average annual returns of 8% over a 7 year horizon. This is the Fund’s first addition in
Northland, adding to its portfolio of property exposure to land in Marlborough, Nelson and Hawkes Bay.
“Kiwifruit is New Zealand’s most successful export crop. Our fertile soils and excellent growing conditions
produce a premium crop that command high international prices. Everyday people will be able to share in
this success as investors,” said Booster Chairman Paul Foley.
The Private Land & Property Portfolio is purchasing the land from Seeka, New Zealand’s largest kiwifruit
producer, under a sale and lease back arrangement. Seeka will continue to operate the orchard and will
pay a fixed rental to the fund under a long-term arrangement, while preserving the option for the fund to
assume earlier operatorship once the orchard is mature. Fully committed to Northland, Seeka recently
bought a Kerikeri packhouse operation and built a bigger, improved facility. The Booster purchase allows
Seeka to unlock capital while continuing to operate the orchard and produce high-value fruit which will
be processed through its packhouse and sold to market. The deal also allows for considerable future
growth of the orchard through conversion of a citrus block and development of currently unplanted land
included in the sale. Booster’s initial investment is $15.5m and is expected to rise to a total of $22m with
further planting of gold kiwifruit planned for next year and a potential further payment in 5 years based
on orchard production (of up to approximately $1 million).
Seeka recently converted green fruit into gold kiwifruit on the hectares sold to Booster. Its smooth-
skinned, sweet SunGold variety commands premium prices in export and domestic markets, particularly
in Asia. Kiwifruit marketer Zespri returned $1.8 billion to New Zealand kiwifruit growers for their 2018
crop and plans to grow global sales to $4.5 billion by 2025.
“Diversification across regions and crops reduces the fund’s exposure to climate, pests and other risks.
The fund provides another choice for New Zealanders who need a wide range of investment options to
support their individual financial goals, whatever their stage of life,” says Foley. “We don’t think New
Zealanders should put all their eggs in one basket. High returns often come with higher risks, so it is a
good idea for investors to diversify their portfolios.
Settlement of the transaction is expected to occur on 30 September 2019 and will be funded by a portion
of bank facilities (in line with the fund’s borrowing policies) and newly subscribed units in the Private Land
and Property Fund. Booster has received applications from its KiwiSaver and other investment funds that
are sufficient to meet the fund’s equity requirements for this purchase but opportunities exist for
investors to subscribe for units in the fund as part of the monthly process described in the Product
Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the fund that is available at www.booster.co.nz
ENDS
For further information
Toni Nealie
Acumen Republic for Booster
T: +64 21 231 3828
E: tnealie@acumenrepublic.com
About Booster
Booster (www.booster.co.nz) is one of the nine government-appointed default KiwiSaver scheme providers
with more than $3 billion currently under management on behalf of over 120,000 investors across
KiwiSaver, Superannuation and Investment Schemes. Some of the funds available from Booster invest in
Booster Tahi and Booster PLPF. Investors in those funds get part of their money invested in the assets
owned by Booster Tahi and Booster PLPF.
Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.
Other issuers discussed similar conditions around this time
Matched by meaning across NZX announcement text, not keywords — based on our semantic index of announcement bodies.
- SEK — Seeka Limited: Seeka sells Northland orchard to Booster’s PLPP2019-09-25
“Date: 26 September 2019 Seeka sells Northland orchard to Booster’s PLPP Seeka Limited [NZX:SEK] has entered into an agreement to sell a 20 canopy hectare Kerikeri SunGold kiwifruit orchard to Booster’s listed Private Land & Property Portfolio [“PLPP”], which is the sole inves…”