China buys beef stake

AUSTRALIAN beef processor Bindaree Beef Group has had another crack at securing a Chinese investment partner — this time successfully.

Bindaree Beef has sold a 51 per cent stake in the company to the Hong Kong-based Hui family and the Hui-backed Archstone Investment Co in return for a “significant” sum.

The amount of the investment has not been disclosed but is believed to be between $100 million and $150 million.

The deal, which has been approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board, was settled by both parties on Thursday.

The Hui family is the controlling shareholder in the Hong Kong-listed property developer Shimao Group, which has projects in Hong Kong, Asia and Australia.

Shimao was founded by Australian billionaire Hui Wing Mau, who has been ranked among the nation’s 10 wealthiest people with a fortune estimated at $5.96 billion. Mr Hui lives in Hong Kong. The deal comes after an agreement in October 2015 with Chinese meat processor Shandong Delisi Food — to take a 45 per cent stake in Bindaree for $140 million — failed to settle.

Bindaree Beef founder JR McDonald said the partnership with Archstone and the Hui family would enable Bindaree to expand its operations to have a greater domestic and international reach.

“Our joint vision ... is to create a more competitive company that can cater for both local and international markets,” Mr McDonald said.

“We will rapidly expand our reach while also upgrading our facilities, supply chain and distribution.” Bindaree operates a processing plant at Inverell in northern New South Wales that has a capacity of 300,000 cattle a year, and the Myola feedlot at North Star, also in northern NSW.

Archstone’s headquarters are in Beijing, and it has interests in the food, agriculture, technology and medical sectors in China, Hong Kong and Australia. It also has agriculture-related interests in Western Australia.