Private Equity

Palisade’s Regional Livestock Exchanges has acquired the South Eastern and Western Victoria exchanges to take its portfolio to 10 sale yards across Australia’s eastern seaboard.

The acquisition will combine two of the world’s leading malt businesses and ends United Malt’s short life as an independent business after spinning out from GrainCorp in 2020.

Paine Schwartz Partners, which previously invested in Costa from 2011-15 before listing it, has bid to acquire it again in a deal worth A$1.6bn.

The pair began working together in 2020 when Proterra Asia was raising Food Fund III and wanted support tapping European capital.

Managing director Steven Bierschenk says the life science research company plans to introduce more than 100 new offerings that will help make it attractive to future buyers.

Increases in the construction budget and unapproved delays are among factors cited by the real assets specialist in its effort to force sale of a 60-acre tomato greenhouse facility in Richmond, Kentucky.

With timber imports resuming and discussions over barley tariffs showing promise, there is hope that broader trade barriers will be lifted and that capital inflows can resume.

The Thunder Bay mill is a northern bleached softwood kraft and northern bleached hardwood kraft pulp, paper, newsprint and directory producer.

Managing partner Rich Gammill says the Cargill spin-out’s experience in ag-focused real assets and credit will shape its approach to finding good assets with bad balance sheets within US real estate markets.

As the market begins to cool slightly, producers are increasingly trying to make themselves investor-ready – which presents an opportunity for buyers, too, say PwC's Kosta Kangelaris and Jaclyn Hope.