Forrest grabs a stake in the biggest beef producer

Dr Forrest has spent $35 million this week buying more than five per cent of AACo.

The company made the announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange this week.

Dr Forrest's investment arm Tattarang made the purchase of almost 32 million shares to become a "substantial holder".

With listed net assets of more than $1 billion, AACo's shares are selling for about $1.60.

It was only this week it was revealed Dr Forrest had bought another big Western Australian cattle station, this time the 634,000 hectare (1,566,650 acre) Balfour Downs in the Pilbara.

AACo is Australia's largest integrated cattle and beef producer plus it is also the oldest continuously operating company in Australia.

AACo owns and operates properties, feedlots and farms comprising around 6.4 million hectares of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

This equates to about one per cent of Australia's land mass.

AACo specialises in grain fed beef and Wagyu beef production.

Overseas investment company Tavistock Group is AACo's biggest shareholder.

Tavistock is owned by British billionaire Joe Lewis and his company is represented on the AACo board.

Earlier in the month, another famous family, the Holmes a Courts, lifted their stake in AACo through Paul Holmes a Court's Heytesbury Holdings.

His brother Peter once ran AACo.

Heytesbury now has a seven per cent interest in AACo.

Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Sign up below to receive our daily Farmonline newsletter.