Consolidated Pastoral Company purchase Jimarndy aggregation from Simon family for $48m

One of the largest privately-owned beef producers in Australia has expanded their holdings after purchasing a 17,600ha central Queensland station.

One the largest privately-owned beef producers in Australia, Consolidated Pastoral Company, is continuing to expand purchasing the 17,600ha Jimarndy aggregation in central Queensland.

In a deal worth $48 million, CPC has purchased Jimarndy from the Simon family who have held a portion of the aggregation for 25 years.

The cattle station is located at May Downs, 245km northwest of Rockhampton and 208km southwest of Mackay, in the Fitzroy Region of central Queensland.

It comprises three farms; Jimarndy, Tawarri and Tandarra.

Jimarndy and Tawarri were purchased by the Simon family in 1997 and Tandarra was added to the aggregation in 2003.

CPC is one of Australia’s major cattle industry players carrying about 300,000 head of cattle across eight farms and 3.6 million hectares in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

The deal is CPC’s first major cattle station purchase since British investor Guy Hands, and management, purchased the company and its assets in 2020 for $500 million.

CPC has added the 17,600ha Jimarndy aggregation to its existing portfolio, which carries about 300,000 head of cattle across eight farms and covers 3.6 million hectares.

The deal included nine farms and a 90 per cent stake in an Indonesian feedlot business.

Notable properties in CPC’s portfolio include the Isis Downs Station, Queensland (246,057ha), Newcastle Waters Station, NT (1,033,101ha) and Bunda Station, NT (178,800ha).

CPC was founded by media magnate Kerry Packer before Terra Firma, a leading UK private equity firm, acquired the cattle empire in 2009.

In 2018 the CPC portfolio comprised an area bigger than Switzerland and was worth around $1 billion, with 16 cattle stations, carrying 400,000 cattle.

Then Terra Firma divested and listed its portfolio for sale with Mr Hands, the chairman and founder of Terra Firma, leading a consortium to buyout CPC.

CPC’s $48 million deal with the Simon family included land and some machinery, equating to about $7650 per adult equivalent.

CBRE Agribusiness managing director David Goodfellow and selling agent Edward O’Dwyer managed the transaction with Nutrien Harcourts Rockhampton agents Phillip Wieland and Julian Laver.

Jimarndy and Tawarri were purchased by the Simon family in 1997 and Tanderra was added to the aggregation in 2003.

Mr Goodfellow said strong commodity prices were holding rural property prices at a premium.

“The competition came from a range of agricultural corporations, financial institutions and large-scale private investors, each of them looking to expand their existing operations,” he said.

“Demand for good quality cattle properties is very strong right across Australia at the moment, and we expect this to continue while our commodity prices remain firm and Australia continues to rebuild its cattle numbers.”

During their tenure the Simon family consistently carried about 3000 breeding cows and has been turning off about 2500 steers, heifers and cull breeders each year.

Jimarndy has 16km of direct frontage to the Isaac River with deep alluvial soils on the riverside plains and red loam soils on the rising slopes leading up to extensive grasslands.