We make long-term investments
in Australian businessesFRIESIAN

Our preferred investment areas are capital-intensive industrial assets. We look for situations where specialised infrastructure can create a competitive advantage. With a long-term outlook, we are patient to find exactly the right deals for our portfolio.

Agriculture

Logistics

Industrial Property

Industrial Technology

Agriculture

Logistics

Industrial Property

Industrial Technology

OWNERSHIP

Our company is owned by its members, comprising individuals and families with investments in a wide range of industrial and agricultural assets. Over the next generation we are building a group of companies that share ownership synergies.

FOCUS AREAS

Friesian looks for related investments in:

  • Industrial property development
  • New technology to be used in industry
  • Representing overseas B2B industrial products in Australia

We prefer investments in operating companies that create group synergies. We are interested in bolt-on acquisitions that create a strategic benefit to our subsidiaries and the businesses of our members.

Recent investments – McColl’s case study

McColl’s Transport started in 1952 and is a specialised tanker transport business operating around Australia. With revenues of $200m it has 600 employees based at 23 depots.

  • 2018

    McColl’s Transport

    Friesian acquired McColl’s Transport from KKR and Allegro Funds Management. With three divisions operating highly specialised capital-intensive equipment, McColl’s is a defensive investment with exposure to markets which perform evenly across the economic cycle. As the leader in specialised dairy transport, McColl’s tankers collect milk from farms around Australia and deliver it to factories. Other tankers move bulk chemicals between industrial zones, serving the water treatment, petrochemical and mining sectors.

  • 2020

    Tanker hygiene facility

    We developed a new site in Western Victoria, creating a specialised capability to wash the insides of tankers to a food-grade standard for the dairy industry. Branded the McColl’s Tanker Hygiene Facility, this site is the only tanker wash in western Victoria which is independent of the milk-processing plants.

  • 2021

    Peter Stoitse Transport

    We acquired the dairy tanker assets of Peter Stoitse Transport, which were then folded into the McColl’s business to increase scale and competitive positioning. This transaction brought access to new infrastructure and operating regions. The acquisition strengthened McColl’s position in key dairy regions around Australia.

  • 2023

    Industrial site acquisitions

    We purchased further industrial sites in regional Australia, strategically located in key dairy regions. Once fully developed, these sites will give McColl’s tanker washing and liquid consolidation capabilities, allowing transhipments of milk from farm collection vehicles to long-haul tankers and intermodal tanks to be shipped anywhere in Australia.

The Friesian Board

Simon Thornton

Simon Thornton

Managing Director

Simon Thornton has a B Com from Melbourne University and an MBA from Cambridge University. His career has included phases in McKinsey & Co, KordaMentha, Caterpillar Inc and McColl’s, working in Australia, Switzerland and the UK. Simon is an active member of the Ormond College Association.

Contact: sthornton@friesian.au

James Macdonald

James Macdonald

Director

James Macdonald has a B Com and a LLB from Melbourne University. His career as a commercial lawyer has included time with Freehills, Ashurst and Norton Gledhill in Australia and the UK. James is currently a principal at Piper Alderman in Melbourne. James is the co-president of the Strathcona Family Association of the Strathcona Girls Grammar School.

Contact: jmacdonald@friesian.au

Hayden Stockdale

Hayden Stockdale

Director

Hayden Stockdale has a B Com (hons) and an LLB (hons) from Melbourne University. His career has included stints with Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Catapult Group and SXiQ in Australia, Hong Kong and the UK. Hayden is on the council of Melbourne Girls Grammar School.

Contact: hstockdale@friesian.au