Kahlbetzers' sell three NSW farms to overseas buyers

Three NSW farms put on the market by the Kahlbetzer family have been sold for more than $115 million in total.

The Lachlan River frontage properties were the first to be offered to the market subject to Australia's new foreign investment selling rules to ensure opportunity for local investors and farmers.

But all three were sold to buyers from offshore - to buyers from the United States and the Netherlands.

The properties, Jemalong Station and Jemalong Citrus at Forbes and Merrowie at Hillston, were held by the Kahlbetzers' Twynam Agricultural Group.

The selling agents had more than 50 inquiries with more than 20 parties making inspections

The properties were brokered by Gary Johnston of Johnston Rural Group Forbes and Bruce Gunning of Ray White Rural International Sydney.

Optifarm, a Netherland-based group, bought the two Jemalong properties.

The US-based group, MERS Global Investments LLC, bought Merrowie though its vehicle MRA Merrowie.

​Optifarm has already been active in the Australian market, buying Uri Park, a mixed farm near Darlington Point in the NSW Riverina last August.

The properties, which include Jemalong Station, Jemalong Citrus at Forbes and Merrowie at Hillston, cover 46,000 hectares.

The Kahlbetzer family, whose wealth is estimated by the ailing Financial Review Rich List at $840 million, has sold around 40 properties over the past decade.