SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) – Final sealed bids are being lodged for the world’s biggest cattle spread, the Stanbroke Pastoral land and cattle holdings in Australia’s tropical northern outback, put up for sale by the troubled AMP life group.
The ranch includes 29 million acres and about 500,000 cattle. This is bigger than anything in either North or South America, Australian cattle industry officials say.
The sale of up to $500 million Aus worth of land and cattle assets is shrouded in secrecy, with bidders signed up to confidentiality agreements covering all aspects of the sale – even the closing date.
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But at least five groups are believed to be bidding to become cattle acreage king of the world.
A win by Australian Agricultural Co. Ltd., one of Australia’s oldest companies after establishment in 1824, would make its youthful head, Peter Holmes a Court, the biggest cattle landholder on earth.
AACo has 16.06 million acres and 400,000 head of cattle over 20 properties in the northern stretches of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Together, Stanbroke and AACo would be an overpowering giant in world cattle land terms.
With Australia’s beef cattle numbers now around 24 million head, after falling somewhat during the country’s prolonged drought, Stanbroke and AACo together would still have only four percent of the country’s beef herd.
This would present no problems under the industry concentration test, a spokesperson for the government’s competition watchdog said.
Apart from AACo, other bidders reported to have lodged bids for Stanbroke are Greek shipping tycoon Gregory Hadjieleftheriadis, a syndicate of Queensland ranchers and South Australian interests associated with gold luminary Robert Champion de Crespigny.
“It’s mixed emotions in the industry,” Brett de Hayr, executive director of the Cattle Council of Australia, said of the imminent Stanbroke sale. “It depends on who gets it and what they do with it.”
AACo was seen following the industry’s preferred option of holding onto its entire massive cattle holdings if it won the bid, industry sources said. Other bidders were less well known and might break up some of the holdings, they said.
