Australia's second largest beef producer is up for sale

The deal includes seven livestock complexes in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, covering 1.9 million hectares, as well as a herd of about 108,000 cattle.

Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman & Co plan to sell their livestock and beef businesses as Hancock Agriculture owner and S. Kidman & Co's main shareholder Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart announced she intends to "focus on other areas of farming."

The deal includes seven livestock complexes in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, covering 1.9 million hectares, as well as a herd of about 108,000 cattle. The portfolio also includes a strategically located fattening and export facility, as well as a farm.

Real estate specialist Elders has been hired to promote the portfolio owned by Hancock Agriculture and will consider offers to buy all or part of the property.

"This is a rare opportunity to acquire a strategically built portfolio of assets at scale at a time of unprecedented growth in demand for quality Australian protein," Tom Russo, general manager of real estate at Elders, said in a press release.

Hancock Agriculture is Australia's second largest beef producer and is investing large sums of money in improving assets such as water conservation, distribution infrastructure, herd quality, animal welfare, employee safety, etc. Australia's beef prices are currently being supported at a high level, with herd size close to the lowest since the early 1990s. In addition, demand for Australian beef in export markets is rising as the global economy appears to be recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.