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Indonesian company buys NT station Willeroo

Beef Central, 15/04/2014

Another Northern Australian cattle breeding property has sold to Indonesian interests following the confirmed sale of Katherine region station Willeroo this week.

ABC Radio yesterday reported that the station, owned by the Sultan of Brunei, has been sold to an Indonesian cattle company.

Beef Central understands from a number of sources that the buyer was Lampung-based Great Giant Livestock, but was unable to confirm that with the company before sending out our daily news email this morning.

GGL is division of Indonesian based PT Great Giant Pineapple, one of the world’s largest pineapple growing, processing and exporting companies, and is itself one of the biggest importers and feeders of Australian cattle in Indonesia.

Willeroo Station is 130 kilometres south-west of Katherine and has an estimated carrying capacity of 22,000 head.

A selling price has not been disclosed but it was passed in at auction last year for $12 million.

Ruralco agent Andrew Gray told ABC radio the purchaser was an Indonesian cattle company with a long association in the Northern Australian cattle industry and had purchased Willeroo to shore up its supply chain.

The transaction follows the sale of Riveren and Inverway to Indonesia’s largest cattle importing, lot feeding, processing and beef marketing company, PT Santosa Agrindo (Santori), in October last year.

Willeroo was one of four properties that had been earmarked for purchase by public float candidate STAG Beef, however the ASX hopeful had been unable to raise the capital required to secure the stations before other buyers swooped.

Killarney and neighbouring Birrimba Station sold to South Australian based Jumbuck Pastoral Company last month and now Willeroo has also been sold to another buyer, casting uncertainty onto STAG Beef’s capital raising and public float aspirations going forward.

Meanwhile the purchase of a majority share of Kimberley, WA, cattle station Yakka Munga to a consortium of Malaysian and Indonesian interests also appears to be close to be finalised.

Various SE Asian media outlets have  reported that a memorandum of understanding has been signed between Malaysian rubber and palm oil plantation owner Felcra Bhd, Malaysian-based Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC), Indonesian state-owned entities PD Dharmajaya and PT Agro Jabar, and Australian incorporated Grain Synergy Global Pty Ltd (said to be involved in cattle rearing and maize plantations in Malaysia and Australia) to form a consortium to buy a majority share of the 189,700ha station.

Felcra chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin said in a press conference during the World Halal Conference in Kuala Lumpur late last week that the proposed purchase was in line with the company’s plans to diversify into cattle production in Australia and Malaysia.

“This venture is good for us as we cannot solely rely on the rubber and oil palm businesses which are heavily dependent on the world market.”

He said Felcra would be the main stakeholder. The Borneo Post reported that Bung Moktar said Felcra aimed to develop the cattle station “into the world’s first halal livestock valley, with HDC as the advisor.”

According to media reports Bung Moktar said the proposed purchase value was AU$22 million and the purchase was expected to be completed by August.

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Comments

  1. Dave Regan, 18/02/2015

    How can this happen, it is like selling your soul.

    The Goverment needs to stop this ASAP

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