Chinese buyer swoops on vast cattle stations

Chinese businessman Ma Xingfa has swooped on two sprawling Gulf cattle stations, buying Wollogorang and Wentworth for $47 million.

Stockmen in the cattle yards at Wollogorang Station, NT. FEES APPLY

Chinese businessman Ma Xingfa has swooped on two sprawling Gulf of Carpentaria cattle stations­, buying Wollogorang and Wentworth for $47 million.

Mr Ma, one of China’s wealth­iest men, already has significant agricultural holdings in Australia, having bought several West Australian properties.

The purchase of Wollogorang Station, with 80km of coastline, will give Mr Ma control of one of the oldest continually settled cattle­ stations in the Northern Territ­ory, with a history dating to 1881.

The deal was negotiated by Geoff Warriner, Danny Thomas and Chris Holgar of CBRE and Lex Heinemann of Heinemann Rural on behalf of legendary cattleman Paul Zlotkowski, who had owned the 705,700ha station for more than 40 years.

Mr Warriner said although the property was a cattle-breeding operation, its future development potential had led to the eventual sale. “There is scope to expand the current operation, enabling increased­ pasture utilisation and therefore an increase in carrying capacity,” he said.

Mr Ma, who owns ball-bearing manufacturer Tianma Bearing Group, bought the Balfour Downs and Wandanya stations covering 639,500ha in Western Australia, adjoining Hancock Prospecting’s Roy Hill mine, late last year for $18m.

He also owns the Emu Downs farm near Cervantes, a property once owned by former West Australian tycoon Ric Stowe. APA Group operates a wind farm on that property.

The purchase of Wollogorang is the latest in a string of high-­profile agricultural acquisitions by Chinese groups.

In February Chinese conglomerate Hailiang Group bought Hollymount Station and Mount Driven in southern Queensland for $40m, while the Sichuan Ying Xiang Group bought the historic Elizabeth Downs station.

The Chinese-government owned Beijing Agricultural Invest­ment Fund has committed to spending $3 billion on Australian dairy, beef, lamb and aqua­cult­ure assets in coming years.

Mr Ma has already received approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board for the latest purchase.

National Farmers’ Federation president Brent Finlay welcomed the sale, saying he was a strong supporter of foreign investment.

“We’ve had 200 years of foreign investment into Australian agriculture, which is a large user of capital, both domestic and overseas,” he said.

“There is significant interest in Australian agriculture around the world, with the latest figures showing Canadian pension funds were the No 1 investors, followed by the United States and Hong Kong-based investors.”

Last month The Australian reported that pension fund heavyweight CPPIB was considering bidding for the nation’s largest agricultural landholder, S Kidman & Co, which has operations spanning nearly 11 million hectares. It has been listed for sale by the Kidman family and is thought to be worth at least $325m.

A spokesman for Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said foreign investment was integral to Australia’s economy but concerns remained about state-owned enter­prises buying Australian agricultural land and greater clarity about ownership was needed.

AgForce Queensland president Grant Maudsley said it was important that investments did not distort resource allocation or agricultural land use to ensure that Australia’s interests were not compromised.

“The fact that we are starting to see more interest from inter­national and local companies willing to invest in Queensland agriculture is a good sign,” he said.