Perichs’ dairy giant hands on Vic farm to Qld egg producer
One of the country’s biggest milk producers – backed by the Rich Lister Perich family and China’s New Hope Group – has sold one of its major farms in Victoria’s north for close to $55 million.
The buyer is Queensland-based McLean Farms, which is one of the country’s biggest egg producers and is owned by the descendants of Arthur and Hope McLean, who established the business in the 1950s.
Spread over several holdings and covering more than 4000 hectares, the Torrumbarry Farms Aggregation is well irrigated and used for pasture and cropping. It is expected that it will contribute much-needed grain production to the McLean business.
“The McLean family is renowned for large-scale sustainable agricultural holdings and this acquisition will support our existing operations and underpin future growth,” said McLean Farms’ managing director, Andy Crocker,
Australian Fresh Milk Holdings, or AFMH, itself bought Torrumbarry in 2020 for around $40 million, with the aggregation’s grazing and fodder production, backed by generous annual water entitlements, helping to diversify its overall operation.
On the Murray Valley Highway near Echuca, Torrumbarry is an hour’s drive from AFMH’s Coomboona dairy farm, near Shepparton, the former Harvey Norman-owned property that it took over after it went into receivership.
The AHFM platform was put together a decade ago when two of the country’s biggest dairy farming families – the Perichs, through their Leppington Pastoral Company, and the Moxeys, who operate the largest single-site dairy farm at Gooloogong in NSW – joined forces with New Hope Group, one of the largest suppliers of meat, egg and dairy products in China.
Also involved was ASX-listed Noumi, formerly known as Freedom Foods, which sold its much smaller interest in AFMH three years ago to the two largest shareholders – the Perichs’ Leppington Pastoral and New Hope’s Australian arm – which each now hold 45 per cent stakes. The Moxey family own 10 per cent.
The Perichs are ranked 54th on this year’s Financial Review Rich List, with a fortune of $2.9 billion.
New Hope Group is one of China’s largest privately owned agribusinesses and its chairman, Liu Yonghao, is among the country’s richest men.
AFMH’s net profit fell to $1.2 million in the 2024 financial year, down from $5.3 million a year before, despite revenue increasing to $196.1 million, as its costs – for feed, raising livestock and milk sales – rose.
The Torrumbarry aggregation was deemed to be surplus to AFMH’s requirements, according to LAWD’s Danny Thomas, who brokered the farmland with colleague Erica Semmens.
“It’s always rewarding to see a significant property like this transition from one family to another, continuing the legacy of hard work and land stewardship,” Thomas said.
“The original Torrumbarry property was owned by the Baillieu family for approximately 60 years. It’s rare to see large-scale properties retained in family ownership in a market awash with foreign capital.”
The Torrumbarry aggregation is near the Murray River and Gunbower Creek. Almost half the farmland is irrigated under various formats with the remaining land used for dryland cropping and grazing.
Thomas said the sale price reflected investment confidence in large-scale assets and the demand for irrigation as producers looked to mitigate weather risks.
“The sale attracted a lot of interest as buyers are looking for productive assets that provide water security for ongoing production during times of drought,” he said.
