Fractional property crowdfunder DomaCom remains open to identifying investments in Australian agribusiness, in the wake of the potential sale of Kidman & Co to mining magnate Gina Reinhart and Chinese interests, with the announcement of a new campaign.
DomaCom chief executive Arthur Naoumidis revealed the company had launched a new crowdfunding campaign that would start soon for a prime northern Queensland beef-breeding property that boasted “substantial improvements” across the asset.
“What our Kidman bid demonstrated is the enormous appetite among investors to acquire agricultural assets – people are motivated by a desire to keep prime rural land in Australian hands, as well as the opportunity for steady yield and capital gain,” Naoumidis said.
“To this end, we have identified this north Queensland property that has a carrying capacity of 4500 head of cattle, with a long-term capacity to exceed this number.
“The property has been in the same family for the past 120 years and what our crowdfunding proposal will allow is for this family to retain a significant amount of the equity in the DomaCom book-build, with the capital raised via crowdfunding to be used to pay off bank debt and allow the family to focus on operating the business.”
He said the Kidman Station crowdfunding campaign had been a “remarkable exercise” with the company staggered by the $80 million worth of pledges from 5500 investors, of which nearly 600 had opened accounts with the DomaCom Fund.
Earlier this month, the ATO provided DomaCom with advice that was expected to pave the way for SMSF trustees and members to invest in family property via the company’s fractional property offering.
The ATO said an investment by an SMSF in acquiring property held in a DomaCom sub-fund would not, in its opinion, contravene the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act provided the SMSF and related parties acquired less than 50 per cent of the units in the sub-fund created after a successful public book-build, and the property was not acquired from a related party.
“For DomaCom, now in the middle of an IPO, this is a critical opinion from the ATO [and] we believe it is a very significant development that will drive growth in the company,” Naoumidis said at the time.
“For the first time, SMSF members can use some of their super money to invest in a property jointly with their children to help them acquire a house to live in.
“In addition to helping their children get into property, this opinion will allow SMSF trustees flexibility in respect of their residential property investments, including allowing SMSFs to co-invest with other SMSFs to create specialist accommodation for children with disabilities or special needs.”
