Our Investment Team has extensive experience in investment and asset management, agriculture, mergers and acquisitions, transaction due diligence and managing large-scale development projects
Partner
Hugh Esler
Hugh is an experienced director of fund and investment management businesses across agriculture, water and natural resources and leads the overall strategy of Granite.
Hugh has over 17 years of corporate and transactional experience across the agriculture, food and beverage, property, and finance sectors garnered from his legal and investment careers.
Since 2018, Hugh has been responsible for the design, deployment and management of more than $800M of irrigated horticulture and associated fruit supply chain infrastructure assets as well as managing water portfolios valued at more than $1.5B.
Through his involvement across the legal, finance and agriculture sectors Hugh has developed and leverages a broad network of relationships for the benefit of Granite’s investments.
Partner
Richard Allen
Richard is an experienced agriculture and water investment professional and is responsible for the operations and strategy execution at Granite alongside his primary role leading the commercial management and ongoing investment performance oversight and reporting functions.
Richard has been responsible for debt structuring of over $650m of senior debt for various Granite related portfolios and leads relationship management with major Australian banks.
Richard brings considerable expertise to Granite’s water strategy having previously managed water portfolios valued at more than $1.5B.
Richard also leads investment modelling, valuation management, performance optimisation of existing investments and provides regular oversight of accounting of farmland and water investments.
Partner
Alex Nunn
Alex oversees Granite’s governance function including its legal, compliance, risk, and people functions. With over 15 years of experience as a solicitor in both private practice and in-house roles, Alex specialises in mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, financial services, ASX Listing Rule compliance, and general corporate matters.
Alex plays a key role in all mergers, acquisitions, and transactions at Granite Investment Partners, while also actively contributing to investment management, ensuring the legal, risk, governance, and human resources aspects of investments are effectively managed.
Partner
Matthew Merlano
Matthew is responsible for the execution and ongoing management of Granite’s irrigated farmland and water investment strategies.
Matthew is an experienced investment professional with a comprehensive background across all facets of funds and investment management, including investor relations, capital markets, risk and compliance, asset management and transaction analysis and execution.
Matthew is actively involved in commercial management, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), business development and strategy execution across Granite’s investment portfolio.
Matthew also leads the integration of ESG within Granite’s business and investment strategies. Additionally, Matthew contributes to transaction due diligence, deal analysis, and onboarding of Granite’s investments.
Partner
Greg Pitt
Greg brings over 19 years of experience across investment management, transaction due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring and management consulting, with a strong specialisation in the agricultural sector.
At Granite, Greg plays a pivotal role in mergers, acquisitions, transaction due diligence and the development of financial models that underpin investment decisions.
Additionally, Greg is actively involved in the commercial management, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), budgeting, business development and strategic oversight of Granite’s investments.