Billionaire buys stake in Bindaree Beef
Bindaree Beef founder JR McDonald, said the partnership would provide the capital needed to grow Bindaree’s current operations, by allowing it to “rapidly expand reach while also upgrading facilities, supply chain and distribution”.
“Our joint vision for BBG is to create a more competitive company that can cater for both local and international markets”, he said. “The Consortium has a successful investment track record and has plans to continue their investment in the upstream supply side of the beef industry in Australia. We are very confident in their commitment to the growth of the Bindaree business.”
The shares were bought through Hui’s Archstone Investment firm. According to Forbes, he is the 12th-richest person in Hong Kong, worth US$5.4 billion in March 2017.
Bindaree’s existing management team will continue to run the day-to-day operations.
In a statement, Archstone said: “The demand for beef in south-east Asia and China over the next 15 years is significant and the new joint venture has the combined expertise to leverage this opportunity.”
Bindaree Beef, based in New South Wales, has the capacity to slaughter over 300,000 cattle a year and employs over 800 people from the surrounding region. Last year it came close to a deal with Chinese processor Delisi, however this fell through at the last minute.
The Hui family is the controlling Shareholder in the Shimao Group which is a publicly listed company on Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a subsidiary on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and is one of the leaders in the property development industry in China.
