Victorian legal eagle’s NT station on the market

The owner of a Victorian farming empire has listed part of his renowned 386,000ha NT cattle station aggregation for sale after “incorrect” reports it was sold last year.

Tipperary Station in the NT comprises the 42,3000ha Douglas West station.

A portion of a renowned 386,000ha Northern Territory cattle station aggregation, owned by a Victorian legal eagle, is on the market after reports it was sold last year.

The 42,300ha Douglas West station - located alongside the Stuart Highway, an hour and a half south of Darwin - forms part of the four-station Tipperary Group of Companies aggregation, which also comprised Tipperary East and West (209,842ha) and Litchfield (133,859ha).

The Tipperary Group of Companies, is primarily owned by one of Australia’s most prominent barristers Allan Myers AC KC, plus a group of strategic investors.

Melbourne’s Mr Myers, a barrister to the stars, also owns the Dunkeld Pastoral Company, which has a portfolio of more than 12,000ha in Victoria’s Western District.

In March last year, CropScale Australia announced it had agreed to terms to buy Douglas West; however, more than 12 months later the Tipperary Group of Companies has now listed the station publicly for sale, after the announced deal with CropScale Australia failed to be completed.

CropScale Australia is owned by Coppelian Ventures, part of Coppelian Capital Advisors Ltd— an Australian-owned UK venture capital group, who said they had acquired the property as a seed asset for regenerative agriculture and pastoral activities.

Barrister Allan Myers AC KC owns Dunkeld Pastoral Company and the Tipperary Group of Companies. Mr Myers at the Northern Australia Cotton Gin, Katherine, NT. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin.

“The information released to the media by CropScale regarding the purchase of Douglas West was both inappropriate and incorrect,” Tanami Rural Property principal and selling agent Susan Brosnan said.

“The property is now for genuine sale to the open market and as agent I welcome all interest on behalf of the vendor.

“The decision has been made to release the Douglas West pastoral lease to the open market as an opportunity for a potential purchaser to further develop.

“The Tipperary Group of Stations has invested significant funds into the development of Tipperary Station through dryland cotton production over the past five years.

“Production has gone from 150ha to approximately 5000ha. The Tipperary Group has also invested significant funds into wholly owning and building the new cotton processing facility (Cotton Gin) near Katherine, circa $80m.”

Ms Brosnan also said comparable land sales in the broader Tipperary region have ranged from $15-$30m, with Douglas West comparing extremely favourably with regards to the property’s key attributes.

As an aggregation the Tipperary Group of Stations has carried 10,000 high-grade Brahman breeders and 30,000 steers and heifers in previous seasons. It also produced irrigated and dryland fodder and cotton production and a 4000-tree mango and 3000-tree lemon orchards.

Meanwhile in Victoria’s Western District, Mr Myers’ Dunkeld Pastoral Company is selling the 1208ha Condah Hill properties, located about 40km south of Hamilton, to consolidate its agricultural holdings around its base further north surrounding Dunkeld, at the foot of the Grampians.

Originally published as Victorian legal eagle’s NT station on the market