This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
FILIPINO business identity and property developer Romeo Roxas has put his 559,500-hectare Northern Territory cattle station Murray Downs to the market with expectations of $40 million, as offshore investors hang up the “for sale” sign on key Australian assets.
The listing of Murray Downs, located 400 kilometres north of Alice Springs, comes at the same time that Chinese company Hailiang Group puts up for grabs southern Queensland’s Hollymount and Mt Driven aggregation, which it acquired nine years ago for $41 million.
They come hot on the heels of US private equity firm Proterra Investment Partners’ listing its One Tree broadacre cropping portfolio with hopes of around $250 million.
Roxas bought Murray Downs alongside Epenarra Station in 2015 for over $20 million and went on to add the 275,200-hectare Pine Hill Station, before selling Epenarra in 2019 for more than $14 million.
Roxas is a director of the Philippine Veterans Bank, and president of the Green Square Properties Corp and the Green Circle Properties and Resources Inc., which have planned cities on east coast of the Philippines.
He holds Murray Downs through Australian Green Properties.
Murray Downs has been run to a 10,000-head Santa Gertrudis cross her plus cow followers, which form part of the listing. The property is offered on a walk-in, walk-out basis.
It has the Davenport Ranges to the north with excellent flood out, and the Amelia, Skinner and Murray Creek systems. Grazing country is soft mulga and buffel.
Improvements include the recently renovated main four-bedroom solid brick rendered homestead, three-bedroom owners’ cottage, two-bedroom workman’s cottage, eight-room workman’s quarters, governess quarters, staff community kitchen with seating for 15 people, and a station and community store with a fully equipped commercial kitchen.
Meanwhile, Hailiang Group, via Hailiang Agriculture Australia is offloading Hollymount and Mt Driven in the Balonne region.
Hailiang Group is headed by Feng Hailiang, who has a net worth of around $2.5 billion.
The aggregation comprises 61,007 hectares of freehold land.
Located 51 kilometres east of St George, Hollymount spans 34,046 hectares, with developed brigalow and belah, and 11,960 hectares of improved pastures, including 3,400 hectares currently sown to oats and wheat, 3,500 hectares of previous cultivation – which has now returned to predominantly buffel – 11,895 hectares of grazing with light to moderate timber regrowth, 1,250 hectares of older regrowth timber, with the balance of 2,041 hectares being remnant vegetation.
Two flowing bores supplying 50 tanks and 67 troughs, and 30 dams, and it has two sets of cattle yards, houses, sheds and airstrip.
Mt Driven covers 26,960 hectares of developed grazing country that includes 18,760 hectares of established improved pastures, 1,800 hectares of cleared cultivation and improved pastures, 700 hectares of cultivation land, with the balance 5,700 hectares being remnant vegetation.
There are two flowing bores, 34 tanks, 40 troughs, and 24 dams, and two sets of cattle yards, houses and sheds.
