Adding to his agricultural holdings in the country, which include cattle stations and a wine group, Chinese billionaire, Xingfa Ma, owner of the Tianma Bearing Group Co., has bought two cattle station in Northern Australia for A$47 million (US$34.62 million).
The two properties, the Wollogorang and Wentworth stations, which according to realtors Heinemann Rural and CBRE Group, hold a strategic position in Australia’s red meat supply chain, include 40,000 head of cattle and 705,700 hectares of land, and have the available scale to expand the current operations to increase pasture utilization and capacity.
News of the acquisition breaks only days after Australia’s agriculture minister announced that a new live cattle export deal will soon be signed with a country he declined to name at this point – giving the beef industry hopes that he was referring to a long-awaited deal with China.
In anticipation of such a deal, many Chinese investors have been maneuvering for an advantageous position in Australia’s beef sector.
Earlier this year, Hailang Group acquired cattle stations in Southern Queensland worth more than A$40 million (US$29.6 million), while Yiang Xiang Assets closed a deal for a smaller property for A$11.5 million (US$8.5 million). In addition, Chongqing Agriculture Investment Group Co. Ltd announced it was seeking to buy Australian cattle stations within the next year worth A$100 million (US$74 million).
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