Rural Sale

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Hunter Valley tourism entreprenuer Matt Cowley has sold his private Polkobin vineyard estate, Hillside for $4 million. 
<a href="https://jurds.com.au/listings/rural_sale-173891-pokolbin/" target="_blank">The pavilion style home overlooking a lake at the 46-hectare property</a> was recently bought by Victor Virgona and his wife Maree after being listed through Alan Jurd of Jurd's Real Estate.
It fetched the same price Matt paid for in 2010 when he bought the property from Francis Johnson and Patricia Hume, the HR entreprenuer pair.
Selling agent Alan Jurd acknowledged the marketplace for pricey lifestyle property in the Hunter Valley had been challenging ever since the global financial crisis in 2008, but was showing early signs of recovery. It also sold in 2005 at $4 million.
It's the highest weekender sale since nearby Verona sold earlier this year at around $3.8 million. 
The prior owners of the trophy Hillside estate included former Time magazine chief, late Ed Barnum and his wife Rena. He was distantly related to P.T. Barnum, the showman of Barnum and Bailey fame.
The four bedroom, four bathroom Hillside, set on Marrowbone Road, has a tennis court, pool and an expansive vineyard, which had been planted by winemaking family the Drayton's almost five decades ago. The vineyard produces shiraz, traminer, verdelho and chardonnay. 
Matt and father Ken, the former News Corp chief, sold their Tower Estates, which included the wine business, in 2013 to Michael Hope. 
They retain ownership of the up-scale hotel Peppers Convent along with its popular restaurant, Circa 1876.
Victor and Maree had been previously active too in Hunter Valley tourism with links to Pokolbin Village, but are best remembered as setting a $20 million Balmoral record in 2005.
This article was first published in the Saturday Daily Telegraph.
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Hillside, Polkolbin resells again at $4 million

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Vaucluse, the historic 2654-hectare Tasmanian farm near Launceston with 1830s Georgian mansion, has been sold to the United States food and agriculture conglomerate Cargill, for $20 million.
The Conara, Northern Midlands acquisition joins Cargill's earlier hedge fund investments including Billabong Station in the NSW Eurongilly Valley and sugar cane farm Marwood near Mackay in north Queensland.
Vaucluse was sold by Michael and Susie Warner through <a href="https://landmarkharcourts.com.au/Property/590289/TRT0383/643-Glen-Esk-Road" target="_blank">Michael Warren of Landmark Harcourts Tasmania</a>.
The Warners ran about 14,000 merino sheep and 400 angus cattle on the property. They also grew potatoes, poppies, grass seeds, canola and cereals across around 700 hectares. 
The trophy 1830s home was possibly built to a design by Robert Bostock, adding to an existing two storey section erected in 1820.
In 1847 John Bayles bought Vaucluse from the trustees of Robert Bostock’s estate for £9,057. He was a magistrate for the district.
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Vaucluse, the Northern Midlands Tasmanian farm sells to United States hedge fund

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There was much interest when much of the main street of an outback rural Queensland town went to auction without a reserve price, grossing $156,000 on Saturday.
The deceased estate in the south-central Queensland town of Yelarbon saw about <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.truecountryrealty.com.au/61568090" target="_blank">three quarters of the town sold</a>.
The three auction offerings included shops on the town’s main street.
"Out of the five shops currently Australia Post is the only remaining tenant and are happy to stay on as long as the new owner would like," True Country Realty selling agent, Mr Jodi Bynon said.
He said there had never had so much attention on Yelarbon which is more than 300 kilometres south-west of Brisbane on the New South Wales border.
It has a population of around 450 woke up to crowds of up to 200 people who had flocked to the south-central Queensland town in hopes of scoring a bargain.
The three auctions attracted 60 registered bidders and sold to three different buyers.
The first auction of five shops sold for $60,000; the two freestanding shops sold for $26,000; and the house sold for $70,000.
“The number of people who came to the town was about half of the population here,” he said.
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Yelarbon township offering attracts strong auction attendance

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/66750/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
Gina Rinehart has partnered with a Chinese company to buy the giant Kidman pastoral empire, after two previous bids by Chinese buyers were rejected by the federal government.
Under the proposed sale Hancock Prospecting and Shanghai CRED are forming a joint venture company, Australian Outback Beef (AOB), owned 67 percent by Hancock and 33 percent by Shanghai CRED.
The sale is worth a net $365 million after the carve out of Anna Creek station in South Australia, valued at about $14-$18 million.
Of three bids for the Kidman land, this is the first with majority Australian interests. The privately owned Shanghai CRED was involved in the earlier bids, both of which were knocked out by Treasurer Scott Morrison. It has recently bought land in Western Australia.
But the offer must run the gauntlet of the federal government’s foreign investment regime which means being examined by the Foreign Investment Review Board, with approval or rejection then up to Morrison. It is also subject to various Chinese government approvals.
It is thought this bid, with its majority local ownership, is likely to be better placed than the earlier ones to navigate the hurdles.
Its 33% foreign ownership is marginally below the 33.9% present foreign ownership – mostly British - of Kidman.
Gina Rinehart is also very close to Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who has been a critic of the Chinese push for Australian land.
The offer is conditional on the sell off of Anna Creek and the Peake, an associated property, to other Australian grazing interests.
Anna Creek overlaps the Woomera test area and security considerations were key to the rejection of the first of the two previous bids, although the total amount of land involved was also a major factor.
The rejection of the second bid came shortly before the federal election, when Chinese investment was seen as an issue.
The Kidman empire has 19 individual properties operated as 12 enterprises, including 10 cattle stations, a bull breeding stud and a feedlot.
It has pastoral leases covering 101,000 square kilometres across South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, and an average herd carrying capacity of 185,000 cattle.
Rinehart, chairman of the Hancock group, said: “Kidman is an iconic cattle business established more than a century ago by Sir Sidney Kidman. It is an operation founded on hard work and perseverance by an outstanding Australian, and it is an important part of Australia’s pioneering and entrepreneurial history.”
The CEO of Hancock, Garry Korte, said the quality of the Kidman herd and channel company properties would complement Hancock’s existing northern cattle properties, and align well with Rinehart’s plans to build a diversified cattle holding in Australia. The Hancock family started their first cattle station in north west Australia.
Principal of Shanghai CRED, Gui Guojie, said partnering with leading local business Hancock had already proved a productive approach and he looked forward to having the opportunity to work with Hancock through the Kidman investment.
The Kidman business went on the market nearly 18 months ago and more than 600 interested parties have held discussions with the sales manager Ernst and Young.
Michelle Grattan is professorial fellow, University of Canberra, and author for The Conversation. She can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michelle-grattan-20316" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Scott Morrison to rule on Hancock-Chinese bid for Kidman cattle empire

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The Rawson family has sold its South Gippsland cattle and sheep properties, Nardoo and Burrabadeen for about $20 million.
Burrabadeen boasts a <a href="http://www.eldersrealestate.com.au/rural/buy/property-cropping-vic-tarwin-lower-668956" target="_blank">Guilford Bell designed home</a> in picturesque English and native treed gardens (above and below).
Nardoo and Burrabadeen, which cover 1252 hectares just outside the hamlet of Tarwin Lower, were first offered for sale in 2016.
The original asking price was around $30 million, the Australian Financial Review said.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/4/30/guilford.jpg" alt="">
The owners have consistently produced the equivalent of 800 breeding cows plus followers in addition to 2,000 first cross and composite ewes and lambs. Approximately 200 acres of hay and silage is also produced annually.
The buyers are understood to be a farming couple from the south-east Melbourne fringe who were looking for a larger property further out from the city.
Elders agents Nick Myer and Don Olden confirmed the properties had sold in the local paper, the South Gippsland Sentinel Times.
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<div id="article-inline-ad">The Rawson family co-founded the estate agency, Burgess Rawson in 1976 but sold out of the business in 2010. </div>
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South Gippsland's Nardoo and Burrabadeen sold with Guilford Bell homestead

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Demand for agricultural property is up, Ray White found with Brymay at Lot 8 Tumut Plains Road, Tumut, NSW the latest example.
The holding attracted 11 registered bidders and sold for $185,000 over reserve at online auction.
It was a competitive auction seeing 34 bids before finally selling for $785,000.
"I've been in the real estate game for 21 years and I can honestly say the last week has been the second busiest in terms of sales that I've ever had," said Ray White Tumut Principal Ray Piper.
"Agricultural land is becoming more and more popular, and even though this property wasn't presented as the best, buyers could see beyond the mess because of the potential and the fact it's in a high rainfall area.
"Despite the restrictions and limited access to the property, we still attracted 21 people to private inspections, and over half of them registered to bid.
"The auctioneer Alex Pattaro was excellent because he took the time to sit down and take us through how the online auction platform worked.
"We logged on as the whole team one evening to run a mock auction so we really understood the process and could ask/answer any questions ahead of the auction.
"It's a great tool for future business and our office actually sold two from two today using the online auction platform."
Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro (above) said this was an excellent result and there was a sense of growing positivity around online auctions.
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Brymay, Tumut agricultural holding sold 30% over reserve at online auction

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Wollogorang and Wentworth stations, the renowned 705,000 hectare cattle station on the Northern Territory/Queensland border has been sold. 
The McMillan family from Queensland bought the cattle station for $53 million from Chinese Billionaire Xingfa Ma. 
Bordering the Gulf of Carpentaria, the property comprises 576,000 hectare Wollogorang Station and 129,000 hectare Wentworth Station. 
The property can be reached by air from Cloncurry or Mt Isa, as well as accessed via the road network.
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2020/5/4/Wollogorang%20and%20Wentworth%20Stations%202.jpeg" alt="">
The properties’ natural attributes include reliable rainfall, with additional water sources including large creeks and seasonal lagoons.
There has been upgrades to the property's infrastructure including the installation of Lorentz solar bore pumps.
The main homestead comes with five bedrooms with contemporary features such as a cinema room.
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2020/5/4/Wollogorang%20and%20Wentworth%20Stations%201.jpeg" alt="">
Mr Ma is one of the richest businessmen in China. He paid around $47 million in 2017 for the cattle station.  
The McMillan Pastoral Company is run by the large McMillan clan, which manages cattle across several properties in North West Queensland.
The property was sold by Bruce Douglas from Ray White Rural Queensland. 
 
https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/finding/location/rural/103879-wollogorang-and-wentworth-nt-cattle-stations-for-sale.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-05-01/queensland-mcmillan-family-buys-wollogorang-and-wentworth-$53m/12102478
 
A Queensland family has bought a large cattle station on the Northern Territory/Queensland border from a Chinese billionaire for $53 million.
On Tuesday, the McMillan Pastoral Company settled a deal to buy Wollogorang and Wentworth Stations — which are run as one property straddling the border on the Gulf of Carpentaria — according to documents from the NT Land Titles Office.
The 700,000 hectare aggregation, which includes around 80 kilometres of coastline, was sold walk-in-walk out with around 27,000 head of cattle.
The properties were bought from one of the richest businessmen in China, Xingfa Ma, who owns a ball bearing manufacturing company, alongside beef and wine properties in Western Australia.
Mr Ma's company TBG Agri Holdings had owned Wollogorang and Wentworth since 2015, <a class="_2HoMm _31PBK _34Pu4" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-16/chinese-billionaire-xingfa-ma-buys-nt-wollogorang-station/6623806" data-component="ContentLink">for which he paid around $47 million.</a>
The McMillan Pastoral Company is run by the large McMillan clan, which manages cattle across several properties in the Cloncurry region of North West Queensland.
Calvert Hills Station, which borders Wollogorang on its eastern boundary, was bought by the <a class="_2HoMm _31PBK _34Pu4" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/rural-news/2013-07-08/calvert-hills-sale/4808906" data-component="ContentLink">McMillans in 2013 for $15 million.</a>
<h2 class="_1LI2A _3_H8z SelAj _1t9H3 ZPXNE lxkD- mSYxO age8P" data-component="Heading">Properties suited to domestic and live export trade</h2>
Herron Todd White land valuer, Frank Peacocke, said Wollogorang and Wentworth would fit in well with the McMillans' other properties.
"They will likely use Wollogorang as a big breeder joint and they will be turning off their younger cattle down to Cloncurry to grow them out and fatten them up," he said.
"The cattle could go into the domestic market or onto the boats through Townsville.
"It's actually closer to Darwin, so they could [send cattle] that way also. They've got a few options."
The quick turnaround in ownership for such a large property is quite rare for the Northern Territory pastoral industry.
Mr Peacocke said the growth in pastoral value since 2015 was not reflected in the sale price.
"It was only four years, but in those four years there has been very strong growth in the pastoral asset space, [of] easily 30 per cent growth over that period," he said.
"[The previous owner] spent over $7 million on Wollogorang and Wentworth over that period, so add that onto the sale price [of $47 million], and if you did expect 30 per cent growth, this sale certainly doesn't show it.
"I think the McMillans have bought reasonably well."
<h2 class="_1LI2A _3_H8z SelAj _1t9H3 ZPXNE lxkD- mSYxO age8P" data-component="Heading">Chinese billionaire 'refocusing' investments</h2>
Speaking to ABC Rural in August last year after the station was put on the market, managing director of TBG Agri Holdings, Andrew Blythe, said the station had been "a great property" for the company, but it was looking to "refocus" its investments.
"We're focussing back on our investments in Western Australia," he said.
"We've got Emu Downs north of Perth and Balfour in the Pilbara.
"So we're focussing on those operations and developing a boxed-meat product for China for our shareholders."
Mr Blythe said the company had invested around $7 million into the property, including a major fencing project, upgrades to the homestead area and watering points.
"And we spent a lot of money on genetics for the property," he said.
"A lot of the herd was a mix when we bought it, but it's now pretty much 100 per cent Brahman bloodline."
The McMillan family declined to comment on the sale.
 
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McMillan family buys Wollogorang and Wentworth Stations 

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A new four lot subdivision of the Shambara farm property, located midway between Benalla and Wangaratta, has come onto the market.
The four lots all with a frontage to the Old Greta Road are respectively – Lot 1 of 68.7 ha, or 170 acres, Lot 2 of 72.8 ha or 180 acres, Lot 3 of 44.5 ha or 110 acres and Lot 4 of 58.6 ha or 145 acres.
The four lots are for private sale through Elders Real Estate’s north east district agent Michael Everard.
The property on the old Greta Road at Lurg is part of the larger Shambara farm property and has been held by the vendor family for over twenty-five years.
Each of the four blocks has some internal division of post and wire fencing.
Most of the lots include paddock or catchment dams, most having been recently cleaned out, while the local average annual rainfall is 700mm with access likely to be available to substantial as yet untested groundwater potential.
Each lot holds a long single frontage to the old Greta Road with good access from the Hume Freeway at the Winton interchange with a bitumen road most of the way to these lots.
Selling agent Michael Everard says that the local district is a prominent rural living area with properties that adjoin these four lots being largely smaller acreage residential holdings with typical sizes of 40 hectares (or say 100 acres).
“There are multiple choices for an attractive home site on each landform with power available to within about 200 metres of the existing road boundary.
“This subdivision which has been created from a long held family farm presents an exceptional opportunity to secure attractive and productive land that is ideally suited to create a preferred rural living retreat,” Mr Everard says.
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Shambara farm subdivided plots come onto market

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Despite suggestions Ernst &amp; Young is close to selling the Kidman family’s ­vast cattle estate, new potential buyers have reportedly emerged.
The Melbourne based Fox family who own Linfox have been pinpointed as a late interested party.
Fairfax Media suggested the $3 billion Linfox logistics empire founded by trucking magnate Lindsay Fox - now largely run by three of his sons Peter, Andrew and David - had the desire and financial capacity to lodge a serious bid for Kidman.
Andrew Fox runs the company’s property division and is understood to have held recent talks with senior government officials about making a potential offer.
The preferred Hunan Dakang bidders had been thought as set to re-emerge with an Australian partner to buy all the Kidman property except the defence sensitive Anna Creek at a price a little below the original bid at $370 million.
Australia's biggest private rural landholding, which includes the world's largest cattle station, is up for sale by the pioneering pastoralist company, S. Kidman and Co. 
Eleven cattle stations covering more than 100,000 square kilometres are being offered through Ernst and Young Adelaide.
S. Kidman and Co. is 98% owned by members of the Kidman family, represented by 58 shareholdings. Not all wanted to sell, The Land reported earlier this year, adding last financial year the company reported a net operating cashflow of $9.3 million and paid dividends of 20 cents a share. 
But it recorded a net after tax loss of $1.4m as herd numbers declined 15 per cent because of tough seasonal conditions to 182,350 head, and their livestock market value fell about $10 million to $97.4 million.
The cattle king Sir Sidney Kidman's first purchase was in 1886: Owen Springs south-west of Alice Springs.
The business still has cattle stations across Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia. 
Anna Creek Station in South Australia's outback, with defence security proximity concerns, is the largest at 23,000 square kilometres. 
The other holdings include Helen Springs in the Northern Territory and Ruby Plains in Western Australia, Durham Downs, Durrie, Glengyle, Morney Plains, Naryilco and Rockybank in Queensland; Innamincka, Macumba and Tungali in South Australia where the company is headquartered.
Property Observer first reported the S.Kidman first cattle empire was set for sale on 14 December <a href="/news/49336-s-kidman-cattle-empire-set-for-sale-to-same-chinese-bidders" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Fox family keen on Kidman farms?

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Expatriate Australian billionaire Michael Hintze has spent some small change to buy another Queensland sugar cane farm.
The $9 million bought the 457 hectare parcel from Sugar Water Pty Ltd.
The London-based hedge fund founder has amassed one of Australia's biggest farm portfolios, with acquisitions totalling about 50,000 hectares since 2007.
His private pension funder, MHPF, has spent about $142 million on the land and water purchases.
His Queensland sugar cane farms purchases marked a shift away from its 15 acquisitions in NSW, which include mixed farming of wool, prime lambs, cattle and winter cropping.
Hintze's buying spree began when he spent $12.5 million for a Breadalbane property in July 2007.
He is the founder and senior investment officer of CQS Management, a London-based hedge fund with assets of $US10.5 billion.
Trained as an engineer, he is a well-known philanthropist, with beneficiaries including the University of Sydney and the Vatican's Victoria and Albert Museum. 
His name has been in the British headlines for the past few months given the vote for Britain to leave Europe.
Rare with his public pronouncements, Hintze has said he was not just looking for capital gain from the properties. He says he seeks solid returns on production.
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