A consortium comprising four Australian grazier families represented by Messrs Tom Brinkworth, Sterling Buntine, Malcolm Harris and Viv Oldfield (BBHO or the consortium), today announced its intention to submit a $386 million offer to acquire 100% of the shares of S. Kidman and Co. (Kidman) (the Offer).
Consortium spokesman Sterling Buntine said: “We have developed a compelling and superior proposal to that recently supported by the Kidman Board which will see Kidman 100% Australian owned.
“BBHO’s financing is committed and our proposal does not require Foreign Investment Review Board approval which means greater certainty for the Kidman shareholders.”
“The Kidman story and legacy of Sir Sidney Kidman is in the DNA of our cattle industry. Sir Sidney was a pioneering nation-builder whose values and vision helped build Australia into a respected leader in the global beef industry.”
“The four families comprising the consortium are deeply committed to honouring and preserving the Kidman heritage and brand which will continue under the stewardship of highly regarded and successful Australian graziers,” Mr Buntine said.
The BBHO families have direct, active, inter-generational involvement within the industry, and continue to this day to passionately work within their respective agricultural operations.
Interests of the group span livestock, grain, transport and other industry services.
Mr Buntine said: “As Australian grazing families we share a strong affinity with the Kidman properties. My father carted cattle for Kidman for many years, while several members of the Oldfield family earned their stripes as drovers on Sir Sidney’s properties. More recently the Brinkworth family’s epic 18,000 head cattle drive from central west Queensland to southern New South Wales followed in Sir Sidney’s similar footsteps from earlier this century.”
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