Cubbie Station officially sold

Australia's largest cotton farm has been sold to a Chinese-led consortium.

McGrathNicol, administrators for Cubbie Station, has signed a sale agreement with Shandong RuYi and Lempriere, the Australian link within the buying consortium. In June Property Observer reported the Lempriere family, one of Australia’s oldest wool processors, had teamed with the Chinese group Shandong Ruyi in an endeavour to buy Australia’s biggest cotton irrigator, Cubbie Station.

Now in its fifth generation, the company, led by William Lempriere, has been the world’s largest wool merchant since 2009.

Over the 155 years since commencement it has sourced more than 1.8 billion kilograms of the finest sheep wool – some 12 million bales – from Australia, Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand as the supplier for the likes of Burberry, Austin Reed, Zegna, Cerruti and St. John Knits.

The sale was recently approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The names of reputed unsuccessful bidders for Cubbie Station emerged although without any clarity or confirmation.

An Australian consortium believed to include the Paspaley family and WorleyParsons chief executive John Grill was reportedly interested in buying the south-east Queensland farm but was beaten by the Shandong Ruyi group, according to a Australian Financial Review report.

Another unnamed Australian investor also put in a higher offer but only after Treasurer Wayne Swan approved the sale on August 31, on the advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

The Paspaley family's wealth was estimated this year by BRW's Rich 200 at about $900 million, but James Paspaley, head of Paspaley Group's agricultural investments, advised that his side of the family business had not looked at Cubbie but that others may have.

Lawyer James Loell, who represented an unnamed Australian investor, told ABC Radio he had been informed it was “too late” to bid earlier last month.