$70 million tipped for Yougawalla Station

The marketing of Yougawalla Station in Western Australia's Kimberley is set to kick off after a decision by its owners' syndicate headed by media buyer Harold Mitchell and former Seven West Media director Doug Flynn.

The partners have appointed ANZ Banking Group and KPMG Corporate Finance to sell the 1.4 million hectare farm with 44,000 head of cattle with around $70 million tipped. It come with Modscape’s sustainable residential designed home.

ANZ's global head of advisory Martin Hanrahan alongside KPMG Corporate Finance partner Sam McClure have the sales task, according to The Australian Financial Review. The Australian suggest $80 million. Harold Mitchell bought Yougawalla in 2008 along with Doug Flynn and the Sale family who expect the Yougawalla sales process will not suffer the same fate at the S.Kidman sale given it does not own land critical to Australia's defence interests. 

Harold Mitchell has criticised Treasurer Scott Morrison's decision to block the sale of Australia's largest cattle property portfolio to foreign buyers calling on local investors to take a greater interest in the country's agricultural sector.

"There are real problems. It shouldn't be handled in this way," he told The Australian Financial Review. 

"We are short on capital and have been for a century and we rely on international co-operation." 

"I am confident that the government would allow us to proceed if the acquirer was a Chinese company or individual," he said.

"[However] they would be concerned if it was a state-owned enterprise but I think that's wrong. The Chinese economy is driven by state-owned enterprises and China is looking out to the world."

Chinese investment firm Genius Link Asset Management is believed to have been the highest bidder for Kidman after rival company Shanghai Pengxin made a $350 million bid for the company.