Costa Group to acquire farming operations of KW Orchards’ citrus farm

Costa Group has signed conditional agreements to acquire farming operations of KW Orchards’ citrus farm and its associated EJT citrus packing facility in Australia.

Located 30 minutes from the farm, the EJT facility will provide a suitable interim packing solution.

The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed by the companies.

KW Orchards has 600ha of land, which features 312ha of citrus plantings and 45ha of wine grapes and water assets, including 1,076ml of permanent water licences.

The included citrus packing facility will have the capacity to pack both Costa and third-party volumes from the Sunraysia region.

In its CY20 results announcement, the company has commenced preliminary planning for the development of a large-scale, state-of-the-art citrus packing facility in Mildura, Victoria.

Costa Group CEO Harry Debney said: “This quality acquisition will bring Costa’s total citrus hectares in the Sunraysia region to circa 700ha, with further acquisitions in this region planned over CY21.

“KW Orchards has an attractive varietal mix well-suited to the export market, and it will play an important role in our capacity to take further advantage of strong citrus export demand.”

To fund the acquisition, Costa Group used existing debt facilities and is expected to be completed later this month.