AFTER a two-year sell-down process, major cattle business Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) has announced the remainder of the company has been bought-out by a British investor alongside the existing CPC management team.
Guy Hands and his family have reportedly paid $500 million for the company, which claims to be Australia's largest cattle company.
The acquisition includes 3.2 million hectares of land and a carrying capacity of about 300,000 head of cattle, including vertical integration into two feedlots in Indonesia.
The deal was proposed in October 2019, with the Hands family planning to continue investment in Australian agriculture through CPC's land, cattle and people.
CPC stated that this has worked with the family since 2009, when United Kingdom investment giant Terra Firma, of which Mr Hands is chairman and chief investment officer, purchased the company.
"CPC is a high-quality, well-run business with a strong position in a large and growing industry and close proximity to major beef-consuming markets," Mr Hands said.
"Even in Australia, where beef industry standards are among the highest in the world, CPC stands apart for its commitment to protecting the environment, animal welfare, investing in people, good relations with Indonesia and innovation.
"I have tremendous confidence in the Australian agricultural sector and my family and I are very excited about the future of CPC and proud to be partnering with its management team."
The Hands family has had a long-term connection with Australia.
"We have family there, one of my sons worked at CPC as a jackaroo and we have always enjoyed travelling in Australia and marvelling at its beauty and how welcoming the people are," he said.
"CPC fits perfectly with our family's other long-term investments, including forestry, hotels and an award-winning Tuscan winery.
"I am very proud of what CPC's management team have accomplished over the past 11 years and look forward to the next 20 years.
"I also very much look forward to spending more time in Australia as soon as we are allowed to travel once more."
In March 2018, CPC announced it was offering its entire agricultural land portfolio, of 16 properties which spanned 5.5mha, for sale.
The offering was speculated to be worth about $1 billion, which has included the sales of:
- Nockatunga station, Queensland, (850,000ha) was sold to Harris family who own Cleveland Agriculture, including Gogo station in Western Australia, for up to $50m.
- Clean Agriculture & International Tourism purchased Argyle Downs station in the East Kimberly and Northern Territory stations Auvergne and Newry (740,000ha in total) for about $135m.
- Baldy Bay Pty Ltd owner Sterling Buntine bought two Queensland properties Comely station aggregation (23,159ha) for about $50m and Mimong (80,000ha) for $20m.
- Manbullo station, NT, said to be worth about $25m was acquired by a consortium of Australian and foreign investors in a sale and leaseback deal.
CPC chief executive officer Troy Setter said the sale to the Hands family was great for the Australian and Indonesian industries.
"Long-term, patient capital will enable us to continue to invest in our people, our land and our cattle - and this will benefit our business as well as the important agriculture industry in Australia," Mr Setter said.
"I look forward to continuing to work with the Hands family, our team and our local communities to build on the great business we have today well into the future."
