Macadamia nut grower to buy Big Island orchards

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

The world's largest grower of macadamia nuts, Hilo-based ML Macadamia Orchards LP, said yesterday it will pay $1.1 million to buy 1,774 acres of orchards on the Big Island that it leases from C. Brewer & Co. Ltd.

The publicly traded partnership said the purchase is being made to reduce lease expenses and should increase long-term value for shareholders.

"The money we're using for leasing we're using to buy the land," said J.W.A. "Doc" Buyers, ML Macada-mia's chairman and chief executive officer.

The deal, to be financed using part of an existing $5 million line of credit, is expected to close in the next 60 to 90 days.

If completed as expected, the purchase would give ML Macadamia about 2,800 acres of company-owned orchards. ML Macadamia leases about 1,400 acres from other landowners. The company also farms about 2,800 acres under contract for other orchard owners.

For C. Brewer, the sale is another step toward completing a piecemeal asset liquidation plan approved last year. C. Brewer used to own the management company of ML Macadamia, which Buyers purchased late last year along with nearly all of C. Brewer's operating businesses.

Following that deal, Buyers said ML Macadamia began looking at what C. Brewer property it might want to own. "It was a good move for everyone," Buyers said yesterday. "C. Brewer's trying to sell and we were interested in buying."

ML Macadamia also announced yesterday a quarterly cash dividend of 5 cents per Class A share to be paid Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 30. Shares closed yesterday up 10 cents, at $3.50, before both announcements.