The Land | 27 October 2009

The former chairman of gold producer Celtic Resources, Peter Hannen, is selling his sheep country in western NSW after his ambitious plan to raise $300 million for an agricultural fund couldn't find support.

The Australian Financial Review reports that Mr Hannen teamed up with Dexion Capital last year with the hope of raising about $300 million for a rural property fund called Global Farming Ltd (GFL), which is still planned to be publicly listed on the British Alternative Investment Market.

More than $100 million worth of that was planned to have been spent in Australia. A spokesperson for Dexion said: "We didn't manage to launch GFL before the turbulence of late last year, and the project has been dormant since then."

It is possible that the sheep stations Mr Hannen has up for sale - Wattlevale Station and Budgerygar near Bourke - could have been seeded into the fund.

Held through Fine Merino Pastoral Company, the properties have a combined land holding of 124,889 hectares and are being marketed by Schute Bell Property and Peter Whitbread & Co.