![Regional Livestock Exchanges chief executive officer Brett Freer. Picture supplied Regional Livestock Exchanges chief executive officer Brett Freer. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/229623862/17eda2c9-580d-46c9-ba4a-470e45f9f580.jpeg/r0_529_4032_2796_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Regional Livestock Exchanges (RLX) has reached financial close on an agreement to acquire two new saleyard facilities in Victoria and New South Wales.
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The group has acquired the Western Victoria Livestock Exchange (WVLX) saleyard at Mortlake and the South-eastern Livestock Exchange (SELX) site at Yass, NSW.
Staff at Mortlake and Yass were informed of the move on Tuesday morning.
The acquisitions brought RLX's portfolio to 10 saleyards across Australia's east coast.
The group now owned sites in Victoria at Ballarat, Barnawartha, Camperdown and Mortlake.
An average of 110,000 cattle have been sold through the Mortlake saleyard alone in recent years.
It was understood the group is now aiming for further expansion with keen interest in a number of other Victorian sites.
Chief executive officer Brett Freer said RLX was driving on with this growth.
"RLX is already on the lookout for the next opportunity to own or operate saleyards that will benefit from the expertise, scale and access to capital that RLX can deploy to improve infrastructure and operations for saleyard users," he said.
He said RLX was keen to develop regionally significant and modern livestock facilities in strategic locations, chosen for stock numbers, transport efficiency and long-term sustainability.
![Mortlake saleyard now has a new owner. Picture by Barry Murphy Mortlake saleyard now has a new owner. Picture by Barry Murphy](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/229623862/9705460d-9c28-42ac-9f06-9352c95b34de.JPG/r0_215_3872_2392_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Freer said the latest acquisitions at Mortlake and Yass demonstrated a "huge vote of confidence in the Australian agricultural industry".
He said work had been underway for some time on the transition of these sites into the existing network of eight sheep and cattle saleyards RLX already own or operate.
"RLX is committed to a smooth transition of the sites at Yass and Mortlake for the benefit of producers, agents, buyers and the wider local community and saleyard users," he said.
Mr Freer said his RLX team welcomed everyone working at both sites and looked forward to working together in partnership with them.
"Up and down the east coast, the team at RLX are continuing to focus on improving the quality our facilities and services offer to benefit agents, farmers, local communities, and the world-class Australian agricultural industry," he said.
VLX's portfolio of 10 sites now included:
- Central Victorian Livestock Exchange (CVLX) at Ballarat, VIC
- Northern Victoria Livestock Exchange (NVLX) at Barnawartha, VIC
- Corangamite Regional Livestock Exchange (CRLX) at Camperdown, VIC
- Western Victoria Livestock Exchange (WVLX) at Mortlake, Victoria
- Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange (CTLX) at Carcoar, NSW
- Inverell Regional Livestock Exchange (IRLX) at Inverell, NSW
- Hunter Regional Livestock Exchange (HRLX) at Singleton, NSW
- Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange (TRLX) at Tamworth, NSW
- South-eastern Livestock Exchange (SELX) at Yass, NSW
- Central Queensland Livestock Exchange (CQLX) at Gracemere, QLD