Fox family keen on Kidman farms?

Despite suggestions Ernst & Young is close to selling the Kidman family’s ­vast cattle estate, new potential buyers have reportedly emerged.

The Melbourne based Fox family who own Linfox have been pinpointed as a late interested party.

Fairfax Media suggested the $3 billion Linfox logistics empire founded by trucking magnate Lindsay Fox - now largely run by three of his sons Peter, Andrew and David - had the desire and financial capacity to lodge a serious bid for Kidman.

Andrew Fox runs the company’s property division and is understood to have held recent talks with senior government officials about making a potential offer.

The preferred Hunan Dakang bidders had been thought as set to re-emerge with an Australian partner to buy all the Kidman property except the defence sensitive Anna Creek at a price a little below the original bid at $370 million.

Australia's biggest private rural landholding, which includes the world's largest cattle station, is up for sale by the pioneering pastoralist company, S. Kidman and Co. 

Eleven cattle stations covering more than 100,000 square kilometres are being offered through Ernst and Young Adelaide.

S. Kidman and Co. is 98% owned by members of the Kidman family, represented by 58 shareholdings. Not all wanted to sell, The Land reported earlier this year, adding last financial year the company reported a net operating cashflow of $9.3 million and paid dividends of 20 cents a share. 

But it recorded a net after tax loss of $1.4m as herd numbers declined 15 per cent because of tough seasonal conditions to 182,350 head, and their livestock market value fell about $10 million to $97.4 million.

The cattle king Sir Sidney Kidman's first purchase was in 1886: Owen Springs south-west of Alice Springs.

The business still has cattle stations across Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia. 

Anna Creek Station in South Australia's outback, with defence security proximity concerns, is the largest at 23,000 square kilometres. 

The other holdings include Helen Springs in the Northern Territory and Ruby Plains in Western Australia, Durham Downs, Durrie, Glengyle, Morney Plains, Naryilco and Rockybank in Queensland; Innamincka, Macumba and Tungali in South Australia where the company is headquartered.

Property Observer first reported the S.Kidman first cattle empire was set for sale on 14 December here.