REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – RURAL

Linfox still in hunt for Kidman

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Aug-16

Lindsay Fox’s logistics group Linfox is still interested in acquiring S Kidman & Company. The sale process has been complicated by the decision of the Foreign Investment Review Board to block the sale of the pastoral empire to Chinese buyers. Ray White rural agent Bruce Gunning says government interference has resulted in the politicisation of transactions in the rural property market.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, LINFOX PTY LTD, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, GENIUS LINK ASSETS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, RAY WHITE RURAL, VICTOR SMORGON GROUP, CAPITAL HILL ADVISORY PTY LTD

Kidman sale in doubt with election results

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 5-Jul-16

The post-election reconfiguration of the Australian parliament could affect the sale of S. Kidman & Company. Dakang Australia Holdings is expected to try again to buy Kidman, after its acquisition proposal was rejected by Treasurer Scott Morrison. Senators Adam Bandt, Pauline Hanson, Nick Xenophon and Bob Katter are likely to oppose the sale of Kidman to foreigners.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, DOMACOM LIMITED

Overseas companies ‘can game the system’

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 6 : 10-Jun-16

The Australian Labor Party’s proposal to increase the threshold for offshore investment in agricultural land has been criticised by Treasurer Scott Morrison. Labor would require purchases of farmland valued at $A50m or more to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, but Morrison contends that offshore buyers would seek to avoid this by acquiring land for $A49m. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has also criticised Labor’s proposal to lift the threshold for foreign investment in the agribusiness sector to $A1bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

China investor calls for clarity in FIRB rules

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 21 : 9-Jun-16

Chinese-backed Rifa Australia has acquired 14 farms in Australia in the last two years, and it is seeking approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board to acquire an additional six properties. However, Rifa’s David Goodfellow says the company has been advised that the FIRB will not resume processing applications until late July 2016. He says investors are concerned that there will be further changes to regulations governing offshore investment in the agricultural sector if the Coalition wins the federal election.

CORPORATES
RIFA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ELDERS LIMITED – ASX ELD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PARAWAY PASTORAL COMPANY LIMITED, CBRE PTY LTD, NORTH AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL COMPANY

DomaCom, Lloyds in frame for Kidman sale

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 23-May-16

Lloyds Business Brokers and property crowdfunding group DomaCom have joined forces to submit a joint bid for the cattle station portfolio of S. Kidman & Company. Their $A370m bid values Kidman’s land holdings at $A210m, while its operating businesses are valued at $A160m. The Kidman sale has been re-opened after Treasurer Scott Morrison issued a preliminary ruling that its sale to Chinese investors was not in the national interest.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, LLOYDS BUSINESS BROKERS INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, DOMACOM PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, RIFA SALUTARY PTY LTD, ZHEJIANG RIFA HOLDING GROUP

Foreign buyers and super push $1b beef boom

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 16-May-16

The growing demand for Australian cattle stations is being driven by superannuation funds and foreign investors. A number of local companies are also buying cattle farms in partnership with overseas pension funds, while the sector continues to attract interest from Chinese investors. It is estimated that almost $A500m worth of cattle stations have changed hands in recent weeks, and sales in the sector are on track to top $A1bn in 2016.

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, PARAWAY PASTORAL COMPANY LIMITED, WESTERN GRAZING COMPANY, QIC LIMITED, NORTH AUSTRALIAN PASTORAL COMPANY, STICHTING PENSIOENFONDS ABP, PENSION PROTECTION FUND, QUEENSLAND. LONG TERM ASSET ADVISORY BOARD, HEWITT CATTLE AUSTRALIA, CANADA. PUBLIC SECTOR PENSION INVESTMENT BOARD, GUNN AGRI PARTNERS, ZHEJIANG RIFA HOLDING GROUP, RIFA SALUTARY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, CBRE PTY LTD, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, THYNNE AND MACARTNEY

Turnbull backs Kidman move as foreign cash drops

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Original article by David Uren, David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 2-May-16

A report from the OECD indicates that foreign investment in Australia fell by 44 per cent in 2015, to US22.6bn ($A29.7bn). This compares with $US39.6bn in 2014 and $US55.9bn in 2013. Australia’s share of global foreign investment in developed economies has fallen to just 1.1 per cent, down from 7.5 per cent between 2011 and 2013. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says a preliminary decision by Treasurer Scott Morrison to block the sale of S. Kidman & Company to Chinese interests is justified given the sheer size of the landholding.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SKY NEWS

Kidman ‘deal’ off election agenda

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 20-Apr-16

Shanghai Pengxin, Shanghai CRED Real Estate and Australian Rural Capital are poised to acquire the S. Kidman & Company rural property empire, comprising nine cattle stations and 180,000 head of cattle. However, federal Treasurer Scott Morrison will defer a decision on whether to approve the sale until late July 2016, to ensure that it does not become an election issue. The two Chinese groups will have an 80 per cent stake in the Kidman business.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, SHANGHAI CRED REAL ESTATE STOCK COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RURAL CAPITAL LIMITED – ASX ARC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, DAKANG AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Nation’s wealthy line up for slice of Kidman

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Mar-16

A decision on whether the sale of the S Kidman & Company rural property business to foreign buyers can proceed is likely in early April 2016. Three overseas consortiums were shortlisted to buy the Kidman assets, but it has been revealed that a number of potential Australian buyers have since been permitted to undertake due diligence. There have been suggestions that the decision was politically motivated, due to concerns about the sale of large landholdings to foreign interests.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, SHANGHAI PENGXIN GROUP COMPANY LIMITED, GENIUS LINK ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP, AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY CHOICE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LINFOX PTY LTD, MOON LAKE INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, VAN DIEMEN’S LAND COMPANY, TASFOODS LIMITED – ASX TFL, KATHMANDU HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KMD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES

Brinkworth may beef up holding

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 6-Jul-15

The rural property portfolio of S Kidman & Company has attracted interest from many potential buyers since it was put on the market in April 2015. South Australia-based grazier Tom Brinkworth is believed to be interested in buying some of the Kidman properties, but concedes that acquiring the entire portfolio – which comprises nearly 11 million hectares in total – may too ambitious.

CORPORATES
S KIDMAN AND COMPANY PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, SFM AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD