Billionaire sells landmark cattle station
Consolidated Pastoral Company has bought the Beetaloo Station aggregation – next to a cattle station it holds – from billionaire Brett Blundy and pastoralists Jane and Scott Armstrong.
The sale is worth $315 million on a walk-in, walk-out basis: $300m for the real estate, the balance for a speculated 80,000-90,000 head of herd.
OT Downs and Mungabroom Station also form part of the Northern Territory offering.
The Armstrong and Dunnicliff families are speculated to have paid about $20m nearly 25 years ago before carrying out the extensive development works.
Years before, the asset was part of a portfolio with 17 cattle stations held by late cattle baron Peter Sherwin.
CPC owns the neighbouring Newcastle Waters. The Beetaloo purchase will increases scale and simplify operations across a large, contiguous landholding in the Barkly Tablelands.
The Armstrongs and Blundy have progressively upgraded Beetaloo’s water, fencing and herd, building it into one of the most developed breeding and backgrounding operations in the north.
CPC buys up neighbourhood
Beetaloo Station spans 1,054,700 hectares, about 48 kilometres north east of Elliott, roughly halfway between Alice Springs and Darwin.
It is at about capacity, with 90,000 cattle, supported by extensive fencing, water infrastructure and multiple homesteads.
Colliers’ Rawdon Briggs represented Mr Blundy and the Armstrongs.
It is believed to be NT’s largest pastoral deal.
CPC is owned by the Hands Family Office, directed by UK-based private equity executive, Guy Hands, and wife, Julia.
Mr Hands also founded Terra Firma Capital Partners which previously owned CRC.
The agriculture business controls more than five million hectares of Australian farmland running some 40,000 head of cattle.
Subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page.
