Daring Cattle Station Sell Off Successful

Article by: Hari Yellina

Gina Rinehart has accomplished her bold plan to sell nearly two million hectares of land across her northern Australian cattle farms. The Hughes family’s Hughes and Georgina pastoral firms are believed to be close to settling the final two pieces of the massive auction, Riveren and Invermay in the Northern Territory, for an estimated $100 million. Peter and Jane Hughes already have large organic beef herds in the Barkly region, as well as in central and southern Queensland. Hughes Pastoral Company is based in Nebo, west of Mackay, at the Hughes family station Tierawoomba. Stanbroke Pastoral Company sold Miranda Downs, a Queensland Gulf Country property, to Hughes Pastoral Group for $180 million in June of last year.

Elders Ltd agents have been handling Rinehart’s strategic move to sell off seven large stations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, totaling 1.876 million hectares, for just over a year. It is thought to be the largest agricultural portfolio ever offered for sale in Australia. The overall asking price was estimated to be around $300 million, which the big transaction looks to have surpassed. Many of the land sales are thought to have included large herds of cattle. The Innamincka and Macumba stations in South Australia were additionally sold to Crown Point Pastoral, which was not part of the initial sale proposal.

Ms Rinehart’s pastoral goals haven’t been harmed by the transaction, as she still owns cattle territory covering eight million hectares. Hancock Prospecting’s purchase of S. Kidman and Company cattle estates for $386.5 million in a joint venture with Chinese partner Shanghai CRED in 2016 accelerated the acquisition of the massive land portfolio. In 2016, JAPFA Santori, an Indonesian business, purchased Riveren and Inverway Stations in the Victoria River District. Hancock Agriculture, according to agents, spent a significant amount of money after purchasing the farms to improve them. Extra water storage and distribution facilities, as well as new technology and digital communication networks, are available at the stations.

The large cattle herds have benefited from the breeder herd’s age profile being lowered. When the sale was announced, Elders’ general manager real estate Tom Russo remarked, “With this development process now significantly advanced or concluded, Hancock Agriculture is now aiming to complete its investment cycle and focus on other areas of growth in its agricultural business.” “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a carefully developed portfolio of assets at scale during an unparalleled period of expansion in demand for premium Australian protein,” says the company. The pastoral situation in the north has never been better. A tiered expression of interest process was used to sell the stations. Hancock Agriculture plans to keep and expand its remaining operations in Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory.