The Benetton Family sold Compañía de Tierras Sud Argentino (CTSA) and Ganadera Cóndor, owners of above 900000 hectares land assets in Patagonia and other regions, to a pool of investors that Mariano Bosch, ceo of NYSE-listed Adecoagro, led (si vedano qui il comunicato stampa di allora e altro articolo di BeBeez). Tether, the USDT stablecoin issuer, owns a controlling stake in Adecoagro since 2025.
Bosch will chair both targets while Agustín Dranovsky, the former ceo of CTSA, will head the operations.
Bloomberg Línea, La Nación and El Cronista reported about the deal on 2 November, Monday, without disclosing the transaction value or other details. The press items said that Adecoagro’s managers acquired the assets personally and not on behalf of their company and debunked the Italian news stories on the matter.
The two sold companies manage a total of 920000 hectares spread across the provinces of Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz. The estate includes large farms and livestock holdings, with activities centred on the production of wool, sheep meat and beef, and the cultivation of potatoes, maize and wheat.
In Patagonia, the farms have a total of 250000 sheeps, with an annual wool production of over 880000 kilograms. There are also forestry operations and cattle farms, whilst in the province of Buenos Aires, the Balcarce agricultural hub specialises in crop production. The group’s potato unit for the food industry, one of the long-standing activities, developed business relationships with McCain.
The transaction marks the Benetton’s exit from one of Argentina’s largest private landholdings, following decades of presence in the country. The family’s involvement in Argentine agriculture dates to the 1980s, when Carlo Benetton purchased Santa Marta, a farm of around 16000 hectares in the Balcarce area. The major expansion took place in 1991, with the acquisition of Compañía de Tierras Sud Argentino, a company that British investors founded in the late 19th century and branded as The Argentine Southern Land Company Limited. The Benetton Family consolidated holdings totalling over 900000 hectares through subsequent acquisitions and developments and became one of the country’s largest private landowners and a leading player in wool production. Over the years, its activities have expanded to include cattle farming, agricultural production and the sheep meat supply chain.
