Gina Rinehart-led bid to buy S Kidman & Co cattle empire committed to keeping station’s Adelaide head office

THE Gina Rinehart-led bid to buy the S Kidman & Co cattle empire for $365 million would commit to maintaining the station’s head office in Adelaide, sources close to the consortium said.

THE Gina Rinehart-led bid to buy the S Kidman & Co cattle empire for $365 million would commit to maintaining the station’s head office in Adelaide, sources close to the consortium said yesterday.

Billionaire iron ore baroness Mrs Rinehart has joined forces with previous bidder, Chinese real estate company Shanghai Cred — headed by powerful Port Adelaide football club sponsor Gui Guojie — to lob the new bid.

While the Kidman head office in North Adelaide is not large — just a dozen people — situating a corporate head office in Adelaide can have flow on effects in terms of legal and accounting work, board meetings and other benefits.

South Australian livestock baron Tom Brinkworth, who is part of a competing consortium to buy Kidman with three other graziers from the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland, refused to comment on his group’s bid or whether any corporate structure would be maintained in Adelaide.

When asked specifically whether he would keep the head office in Adelaide he said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about’’.

The Brinkworth consortium’s deal, which would involve carving up the Kidman properties between the four groups, is reportedly $15 to $20 million less than the Hancock deal, and with the Hancock consortium securing an exclusive “bid implementation deal” with the Kidman board, it appears unlikely to be successful.

Gina Rinehart

Gui Guojie

A competing bid can be accepted by Kidman, however it would trigger a $3.8 million “break fee”.

A company, registered by five landholders from the state’s southeast on September 2, called “Still Call Australia Home”, also said yesterday it wanted to put in a bid but had not been given an audience by the Kidman board or its advisers Ernst & Young.

Spokesman Malcolm Bairstow said: “like the other Australian companies we have found ourselves not being able to gain financials and/or inspections and being locked out of the due diligence process in order to place a bid’’.

EY toured numerous groups through the Kidman properties last year during the initial bid process but Mr Bairstow said his group was not in a position to be involved at that stage.

The Hancock bid will actually reduce the foreign ownership of the Kidman group from 33.9 per cent to 33 per cent, but will still require FIRB approval.

The bid was yesterday welcomed by Treasurer Scott Morrison and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.