A
group of four families has bid $390 million Cdn for all the shares of S. Kidman
& Co., topping an offer of $385 million from billionaire Gina Rinehart and
her Chinese business partner for one of Australia’s largest beef producers.
The
group, known as BBHO -- an acronym based on the family names of directors Tom
Brinkworth, Sterling Buntine, Malcolm Harris and Viv Oldfield -- submitted
its proposal to the Kidman board Sunday, Buntine said. Kidman, based in
Adelaide, South Australia, is owned by descendants of its founder, “Cattle
King” Sidney Kidman, who began in 1899 amassing ranches that made him at
one time the world’s largest landholder.
If
successful, the transaction will more than triple Kidman’s cattle herd to in
excess of 500,000 head through the addition of supplies from the properties
owned by the BBHO families, according to an e-mailed statement.
The
group is betting Kidman will prefer its all-Australian offer because it won’t
need approval from the Australian government.
“The
four families comprising the consortium are deeply committed to honoring and preserving
the Kidman heritage and brand, which will continue under the stewardship of
highly regarded and successful Australian graziers,” Buntine, a spokesman for
the group, said in the statement.
The
government earlier rejected a bid by foreigners for the Kidman business.
