SYDNEY (Reuters) — Australia’s largest private landowner will sell its cattle operations, including the world’s largest ranch, to raise cash for other businesses and investments.
S. Kidman & Co. said it will sell its 11 cattle stations and a feedlot, complete with more than 200,000 head of cattle and more than 100,000 sq. kilometres of land spread across Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia.
The company’s holdings cover an area equivalent in size to South Korea.
The announcement of the sale, which is expected to attract significant foreign interest, comes a month after the government said it would clamp down on foreign ownership of agricultural land.
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The cattle stations include Anna Creek, the world’s largest cattle farm at more than 23,000 sq. km.
Managing director Greg Campbell said the Kidman family’s decision was driven by a desire to capitalize on demand for Australian agricultural assets.
“Many of the family have other existing investments in Australian agriculture and elsewhere, and the sale will allow them to convert long-term capital gains into cash to support their other businesses and in-vestments,” Campbell said.
Australian agricultural assets have become increasingly desirable despite the often volatile incomes, and some industry experts estimate that overseas investors own more than 20 percent of Australian agricultural land.
Australia, which is concerned it is losing control of its own food security, decided in February to slash the amount beyond which land purchases would require regulatory approval.
Foreign purchases of agricultural land worth more than US$12.5 million are now subject to regulatory approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
London-based private equity company Terra Firma was last year rumoured to be interested in buying a 50 percent stake in S. Kidman & Co.
“The company is in excellent financial shape, being debt free with no mortgages over any assets,” said Campbell.
It produces an average 15,000 tonnes of beef a year, supplying 1.3 percent of Australia’s slaughtered beef exports, it said.
