Why Gina sold 10 iconic S. Kidman and Co cattle stations

Gina Rinehart has sold 10 of the country’s most famous cattle stations to Australian farming families in the past 18 months. What motivated the sales?

Almost seven years ago, Gina Rinehart and Shanghai CRED combined to acquire the iconic S. Kidman and Co cattle station empire in a deal worth $386.5 million.

But after several notable transactions, the S. Kidman and Co empire looks vastly different, including the sale of four properties totalling 2.4 million hectares in Queensland and the Northern Territory earlier this year.

The 457,200-hectare Brunchilly Station north of Alice Springs was sold to the Harris family for about $107 million, while the Appleton Cattle Company purchased the 751,000-hectare Naryilco Station, 660,000-hectare Durrie Station and 550,000-hectare Glengyle Station, located north of Birdsville in outback Queensland.

S. Kidman and Co and Hancock Agriculture chief executive Adam Giles said the restructuring of the S. Kidman portfolio was to focus on selling the higher value Santa Gertrudis cattle and Wagyu-Santa Gertrudis crossbreeds.

“What we had to do was realign some of those property portfolios that we had to better target property that met the needs and demands of the cattle that we wanted to see go into the box product,” Mr Giles told The Australian Ag Podcast.

“A couple of years ago we were very large in our cattle numbers and we weren’t always focused on the beef qualities and standards we wanted to be focused on.

“Part of that strategy was working through a box beef program. With Kidman a lot of it was going over the hook, but now it is going into a box beef strategy.

“So we now have a lot of property in the New England region and southern Queensland. You’ll start to see some acquisitions for Kidman into the future.”

Mr Giles also said the structure of the portfolio was to improve animal-welfare concerns.

“We also want to make sure we have a logistic supply chain so that we can get to market and meet MSA (Meat Standards Australia) grades with animals on transport for less periods of time for animal welfare,” he said.

“Partly it is about ensuring we have property that supports those animals, but also has greater access to water so we can better offset that might come up into the future.

“The list is endless for what we do for animal welfare even to the point where we are selling some of our Kidman properties so we can have our cattle on trucks less as they move between a breeding property, backgrounding and a feedlot.

“The world is growing, there are more mouths to feed and we have an opportunity to feed those mouths. We just have to do it in the best way that we can, leaving the lightest footprint touch we can on our country while achieving the best economic gains as a business unit.”

Prior to the sale of 2.4 million hectares this year, Mrs Rinehart offloaded the 550,000-hectare Riveren and Inverway stations to cattle barons Peter and Jane Hughes for $100 million in April last year.

Crown Point Pastoral Company led by Viv Oldfield and Donny Costello secured their own slice of the S Kidman empire purchasing the 800,000-hectare Ruby Plains and Sturt Creek stations, located in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, as well as the 1.36 million-hectare Innamincka Station and the 1.1 million-hectare Macumba Station in South Australia.

In becoming Australia’s largest private landholders the pair also purchased the 3443-hectare Phoenix Park feedlot.

Three other Australian farming families also purchased a station of their own with the 147,500-hectare Aroona Station sold to the Di Giorgio family from South Australia, the 203,142-hectare Nerrima Station sold to the Emanuel family from Western Australia and the 171,000-hectare Willeroo Station changing hands to Brett Cattle.

Ms Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture have wasted no time deploying the capital recouped from these deals, purchasing the 10,029-hectare Moolan Downs Station in Queensland’s Western Downs and the 8371-hectare Ottley Station in northern NSW from Packhorse Pastoral for about $80 million.

The Kidman portfolio currently comprises the 570,000-hectare Helen Springs Station in the Northern Territory, as well as the 891,000-hectare Durham Downs Station and Woomanooka Outstation, the 14,600-hectare Rockybank Station and 632,000-hectare Morney Plains Station in Queensland.