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Chinese buying Australian dairy and beef operations

A couple of Chinese investors are buying controlling interest in Australia’s largest dairy operation. The Australian reports the investors will each purchase 35 percent of Van Diemen’s Land Company (VDL) in Tasmania. The remaining 30 percent will be purchased by a New Zealand equity firm.

 

Formed by Royal Charter in 1925; VDL has 29,000 dairy cattle including 18,000 milk cows and 19,000 hectares (46,950 acres) of land in Tasmania. It has been controlled by the New Plymouth District Council for years and is the largest milk producer in Australia. The deal will need to be approved by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

 

Chinese interest is apparently not limited to dairy; the Financial Times says a couple of privately-held Chinese companies are in the running to buy S. Kidman & Company. The Aussie family-owned operation has 200,000 head of cattle and controls pasture leases on 100,000 square kilometers (24.7 million acres) of land.

 

The Australian Parliament is currently working through the details of a free trade agreement reached with China in November.