Coal Mining Giant Pembroke Buys Queensland Cattle Stations for $50m

An Australian-based resource company has acquired a 41,500-hectare rural aggregation in the hopes of shifting its focus from cattle to coal.

Pembroke Resources acquired the land for an estimated $50 million. Pembroke is run by former Gloucester Coal managing director Barry Tudor.

The land comprises three cattle properties – Iffley, Deveril and Twenty Mile – and were successfully secured amongst local and offshore interest thanks to Pembroke’s foreign private equity backing.

The land aggregation was acquired from the Australian arm of US coal miner Peabody Energy, which reportedly put the cattle stations up for sale in April last year.

CBRE’s Chris Holgar and Geoff Warriner managed the 12-month sale process on behalf of Peabody.

“These prominent properties are well-known in Central Queensland, having been under the stewardship of some of Australia’s most established and renowned cattle families,” Holgar said.

Related reading: Camm Agricultural Group Places Queensland Farm on the Market

The Australian Financial Review reported that each of the cattle properties will continue to operate in the beef industry until at least 2023, when Pembroke will look to add the land to their coal business, which currently includes seeking approval from the Queensland government to operate a $1 billion mega mine at Olive Downs capable of producing 14 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year.

“Marking the first major agricultural transaction of 2018, the sale of these well-known Central Queensland properties is a strong indication that the state’s mining sector is picking up, underpinned by increased global prices for Australian resources,” Holgar said.

“Notwithstanding the fact that the properties were purchased for mining purposes, the sale also highlighted the underlying strength of the agricultural market with the public expression of interest sale process generating exceptional enquiry from domestic and foreign purchasers of high-quality agricultural assets.”

The properties are located approximately 38 kilometres south east of Moranbah, 130 kilometres south west of Mackay and 240 kilometres north west of Rockhampton.