Tom and Pat Brinkworth, who were were part of the syndicate of underbidders in the battle to buy Australia's largest landholder S.Kidman and Company, have snapped up a cattle station owned by the Qatar government-backed Hassad.
The Brinkworths, who own 100 rural properties across Australia for the production of cattle and sheep, have agreed to buy the 2632-hectare Kaladbro Station in western Victoria.
It was placed on the market in September through CBRE with expectations it could fetch more than $20 million.
The Brinkworths declined to give details but confirmed a transaction was in progress.
The family is renowned for its intelligent buying and farming capabilities.
In 2013 Mr Brinkworth bought 18,000 head of cattle from stations in the Gulf of Carpentaria, had them trucked to Longreach in western Queensland, then walked them to his 35,000-hectare Uardry Station near Hay in the NSW Riverina.
The 2000-kilometre-long cattle drive was one of the largest in modern history and captured national attention.
Last year Mr Brinkworth first signalled his intention to look at some of the Kidman and Co properties which came up for sale.
He later joined a syndicate of wealthy and famous dynastic farming families to bid for Kidman at a price of $386m.
However Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting and its joint venture partner Shanghai CRED later increased their bid for Kidman to $386.5m and the family syndicate was knocked out of the race.
Mr Brinkworth's purchase of “Kaladbro” will help compensate for his missing out on the South Australian properties he was looking to take out of the Kidman portfolio.
Kaladbro sits is 25 north-east of Mount Gambier at Strathdownie, and will probably be used for hay production for the Brinkworth's huge herd.
It was purchased by Hassad in 2010, reportedly for as much as $25m, sparking some controversy around foreign investment.
Hassad has purchased more than 300,000 hectares of rural properties across Australia since 2010.
- This article first appeared in The Australian Financial Review
