Bega offers up a slice of history with offer of $150m Vegemite site

The home of Vegemite is hitting the block with Bega Cheese kicking off a campaign to sell the famed factory in Port Melbourne with hopes of reaping about $150m.

ASX-listed Bega Cheese has launched an expression of interest campaign for the sale and leaseback of its property at 1 Vegemite Way, Port Melbourne.

The property, at which Bega Cheese manufactures Vegemite, peanut butter and other products, is just five kilometres from the Melbourne CBD.

The deal is structured as a sale and leaseback proposals which would enable Bega Cheese to continue to manufacture Vegemite and other products at the site under a long-term lease arrangement.

Bega Cheese is being advised by Colliers and Addisons in relation to the potential sale and leaseback of the Port Melbourne property and the company said it would provide further details to the market if it identifies and progresses a suitable proposal.

The home of Vegemite was last year put on track to be heritage listed after receiving council backing.

Melbourne City Council supported an expert review of the Fishermans Bend urban renewal precinct, which called for the site to be preserved because of their historical significance.

The Vegemite factory was noted for its significance, as the site where the product was first produced in 1923. It took some years to catch on with the public who were used to British product Marmite but now more than 22 million jars of Vegemite spread are sold every year.

The popular vegetable yeast spread is now known internationally as an Aussie icon, although US food giant Kraft owned the brand for many years. Bega Cheese acquired the property along with the operations five years ago.

The site has a storeyed history. In 1943 hundreds of women were recruited to work at a new vegetable dehydration factory in Port Melbourne as part of the war effort. In 1952, the site was expanded to include a yeast factory.

Colliers’ agents Gavin Bishop, Sean Thomson and Jack Kelliher are handling the marketing.

Bega Cheese shares closed 1.5% higher at $4.83 on Thursday, valuing the group at $1.46bn.

This story was first published in The Australian.