A farm investment company with overseas and New Zealand investors has added to its North Otago holdings following approval from the Overseas Investment Office to buy Waiareka Valley land.
Craigmore Farming NZ Limited Partnership is buying 612ha, made up of 593ha at McNally Rd, Windsor, owned by Corriedale Farm and 19ha at Weston-Ngapara Rd, owned by McWhirter Farms, for an undisclosed price.
Craigmore Farming Partnership has shareholders in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Germany, New Zealand and other countries.
About two-thirds are in the United Kingdom.
The company said it intended to carry out extensive development to realise the full potential of the land and associated dairy farming operations.
The partnership is part of the Craigmore Farming group, established in 2008 by Mark Cox and his brother-in-law, Forbes Elworthy, whose family farmed at Craigmore near Timaru.
It has $250 million in equity and $400 million in assets, including dairy, grazing, horticulture and forestry blocks within New Zealand.
It already owned three farms in the Waiareka Valley, home to 4400 crossbred cows.
The Arnmore, Windsor and Waiareka farms cover 1060 hectares, have been developed further and employ a team of 24 farm staff.
Earlier this year, dairy land in the area was fetching $30,000 to $50,000 a hectare, depending on the level of development.
