The wealthy Ingham family, which amassed its fortune through its poultry empire, has embarked on an initial public offering or trade sale for a portfolio of holiday parks on Australia’s east coast.
The Commonwealth Bank is understood to have been drafted in for the deal that would see the Inghams either sell or float between six and eight manufactured housing estates within the next few months.
Included in the portfolio is likely to be the Valhalla Village on the NSW Central Coast, which the family has under contract to buy. Other parks include Terrigal Sands on the Central Coast and Newport Gardens in Port Macquarie, Bremer River at Ipswich in Brisbane, and The Lorikeet Tourist Park and The Pines Tourist Park in Coffs Harbour. The collective value of the properties is thought to be between $100m and $200m.
Bob Ingham, who is in his 80s, was last year named by BRW as the country’s wealthiest farmer with a $1.15bn fortune.
The billionaire, together with his brother Jack (who passed away in 2003), spent most of his life expanding the Inghams Enterprises business that his father, Walter, had started nearly a century ago in Sydney’s west.
The pair built the business into the largest producer of chickens and turkeys in Australia and New Zealand.
They were also big investors in horseracing and sold their thoroughbred empire, which included Woodlands Stud, in 2008 for a reported $500m.
In 2012, Bob Ingham sold the Inghams Enterprises business for almost $900m to private investment firm Texas Pacific Group.
Should the IPO of the holiday parks proceed, the company would compete with other groups already invested in the manufactured housing space. These include the listed retirement operator Ingenia and Alceon, a company backed by investment bankers Trevor Loewensohn and Phil Green.
Competition in the modular housing space has been heating up as groups bet on growing demand for portable homes on the back of a soaring real estate market. There is a race to consolidate in an industry where the top 10 operators hold only 5 per cent of the market.
The CBA is also working on an IPO for a portfolio of office buildings out of New Zealand, estimated to be worth about $200m. The properties had previously been offered by Arthur Psaltis, a former Westpac executive, said one source.