Chinese-owned Rifa Salutary lists its 14 Australian farms for sale

Zhejiang Rifa Holding Group is offloading its 14 properties, totalling 44,000ha, in Victoria and NSW — including Western District property Blackwood Station.

Up for grabs: Historic Blackwood Station at Penshurst is up for sale.

HISTORIC Western District property Blackwood Station is on the market after a decision by its Chinese owners to sell its Australian farming portfolio.

Rifa Salutary, the Australian arm of Hangzhou-based manufacturing and investment giant Zhejiang Rifa Holding Group, announced last week that it would offload its 14 properties, totalling 44,000ha, in Victoria and NSW.

CBRE Agribusiness’ Colin Medway said the sale could generate “north of $150 million”.

Rifa has become a major player in the Australian beef industry in the five years since it acquired Blackwood Station at Dunkeld from the Ritchie family for a reported $14 million.

In 2017, it paid $9 million for the 4534ha Kulwin Park and McNicholl’s properties at Wycheproof.

Its NSW holdings comprise the 22,550ha Cooplacurripa Station at Gloucester, purchased in 2015, the 8000ha Middlebrook aggregation at Nundle, bought in 2016 for about $60 million, and the High Plains aggregation at Warialda, purchased in 2016 for $15 million.

There’s also the 4931ha Ashleigh Station at Gravesend and the 1457ha Kerriki at Gloucester, purchased in 2015.

Mr Medway said while Rifa’s preference was to sell the portfolio as “a going concern” it was “canvassing interest from all sectors of the market”.

“Existing large-scale beef players would probably be the main candidates but there would be obviously local interest for individual properties,” he said.

“We’ve already had inquiry from both domestic and international parties.”

Mr Medway said North America and Europe were major sources of foreign capital currently being invested in Australian farmland.

According to reports, Rifa recorded an after-tax loss of $12.4 million in the 12 months to March this year, and a $2.7 million loss in 2017-18.