Gina Rinehart and Chinese partner clear to secure Kidman & Co empire

Gina Rinehart will almost certainly secure the S. Kidman & Co pastoral empire after the withdrawal of a rival bid.

Loading cattle at S Kidman & Co’s Helen Springs Station.

Gina Rinehart will almost certainly take control of the S. Kidman & Co pastoral empire after today’s withdrawal of a rival bid from four wealthy farming families.

The decision by the Buntine, Brinkworth, Harris and Oldfield families came after the Kidman board yesterday unanimously recommended shareholders accept an improved, $386.5 million offer from Hancock Prospecting and Chinese firm Shanghai CRED.

Last night the BBHO syndicate was considering lobbing a higher offer, but today decided not to get into a bidding war with the mining magnate.

In a statement, the BBHO syndicate said it had withdrawn following the Kidman board’s recommendation yesterday.

“We are disciplined investors in Australian rural assets and made what we believed to be a full and fair offer,” the statement says.

“After what has been a lengthy and complex sales process we congratulate the Hancock Shanghai CRED consortium for similarly recognising the potential of the iconic Kidman brand.

“Each of the BBHO partners wishes the Hancock consortium well and, should they be successful in completing the acquisition, we look forward to welcoming them as neighbours.”

The Hancock bid will leave Shanghai CRED with a one-third stake in the pastoral portfolio, and the Anna Creek property will be sold, most likely to the Williams Cattle Company.

Hancock Prospecting will ­acquire the entire portfolio if Foreign Investment Review Board approval is not forthcoming, Mrs Rinehart said in a statement yesterday.

“Sidney Kidman has special meaning to me given our families’ historical ties dating back more than a hundred years when my grandfather, James Nicholas, owned stations together with Sir Sidney,” she said.

Kidman has “special meaning” for Mrs Rinehart.

Kidman chairman John Crosby, said: “Under the Hancock ... offer, the core Kidman business will remain intact and the Kidman staff and legacy will be looked after.”

Treasurer Scott Morrison has twice knocked back bids for the sprawling Kidman portfolio, the country’s largest pastoral company, the last a $371m offer from Chinese firms Shanghai Pengxin and Shanghai CRED in a joint venture with Australian Rural Capital.

Shanghai CRED later moved to bid with Hancock Prospecting, and will take a one-third stake in Kidman if approved by the FIRB.

The latest development came as former trade minister Andrew Robb warned investment was being put at risk by “cowboys down here playing the China card” in a clear swipe at the wealthy farming families who lobbed a $386m rival offer for Kidman early this week.

Mr Robb, trade minister in the Abbott and Turnbull governments, said there were “a number of politicians who need to be careful about being used as a mouthpiece for people who want to make a cheap deal”.

Those comments appear to be aimed at Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who on Wednesday suggested the sale of Australian farmland to foreigners threatened national patriotism and sovereignty.

Other politicians, including Nick Xenophon and Bob Katter, had lined up behind BBHO consortium, led by Northern Territory cattleman Sterling Buntine.

Anti-foreign investment One Nation leader Pauline Hanson last night said she had no problems with Mrs Rinehart and her Chinese partner buying the Kidman outback empire.

Senator Hanson said she had personally been given assurances by Mrs Rinehart that her Hancock Prospecting group would never sell out or sell down its 67 per cent stake to her minority partner.