Koramba Cotton sells to Australian Food and Fibre Limited

Deal typeM&A
IndustryAgriculture
Client nameKoramba Cotton

Dean Phillips, the owner of United States based HNB National Bank, who is also President and Chairman of T&C Bancorp in Missouri, engaged BDO’s M&A team to sell Koramba, a large cotton farming and ginning enterprise near Goondiwindi in Queensland, Australia.

BDO's Corporate Finance team successfully led the sale of Koramba. Our team helped Mr Phillips sell the farm, water, and gin to Australian Food and Fibre Limited. A major shareholder of Australian Food and Fibre is PSP Investments, one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers. Plant and equipment were sold at an on-farm auction.

The total transaction was valued in excess of $100 million.

<>BDO assisted Mr Phillips across all aspects of the transaction, including:

 

  • Preparing the information memorandum - this included outlining the investment thesis, giving a full overview of the Australian cotton and water industry, and providing details on operations and financials
  • Developing a detailed three-way financial model
  • Drawing up and then marketing to a targeted list of buyers based on our in-depth knowledge on food and agribusiness investors
  • Managing and leading negotiations
  • Helping to complete all the necessary tasks to bring the deal to a successful close.

Bids were received from a wide spectrum of people, including trade buyers, institutional investors and high-net worth investors based in Australia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. BDO helped Mr Phillips to negotiate with these prospective buyers and come to the best decision possible on selling the farm.

It was BDO's in-depth expertise of the cotton industry, coupled with our extensive knowledge of the mergers and acquisitions market and prospective buyers, which meant we were perfectly placed to help Mr Phillips come to a successful outcome.

BDO is extremely proud of our work on the sale of Koramba. We helped an industry pioneer to negotiate with investors from all over the world, eventually coming to a settlement with Australian Food and Fibre Limited that both parties were happy with.

I attribute the key to the success of my investment in Australia to the strength of my business partnerships. In partnering with BDO to sell Koramba I benefited from a trusted relationship, considerable business sale experience, in-depth cotton industry knowledge and extensive knowledge of buyers. Thoughout the process I was always confident that BDO were acting in my best interests and were prepared to invest whatever time required to achieve the best outcome.
Dean PhillipsOwner, Koramba Cotton and Ginning