Rinehart surveys her new cattle empire

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has visited staff at the Adelaide head office of her latest acquisition, the sprawling S. Kidman & Co cattle empire.

Ms Rinehart was presented with a Kidman branding iron at a morning tea with executives and staff of the company.

She also joined the workers for their annual Christmas party.

Mrs Rinehart said it had been 18 months of uncertainty for staff, while the sale of the company was agreed to and cleared by regulatory authorities.

“I hope they are pleased they now have more certainty and a majority owner who values the Kidman legacy,” she said.

“I look forward to working with the team in Adelaide and the managers on the stations to understand their ideas to build the Kidman business and continually improve our quality and competitiveness.”

Mrs Rinehart plans to visit each of the Kidman properties in January, weather permitting.

She also noted that the company’s founder, Sir Sidney Kidman, and her grandfather, James Nicholas, were long term friends and business partners.

Kidman managing director Greg Campbell said it had been almost 100 years since Mrs Rinehart’s family, her grandfather, James Nicholas, and Sidney Kidman owned businesses together.

Mrs Rinehart’s $365 million takeover of the S. Kidman & Co pastoral empire was given the green light by the Foreign Investment Review Board earlier this month.

Hancock Prospecting teamed with a 33 per cent partner, Shanghai CRED Real Estate, in October after an earlier all-Chinese bid led by Shanghai CRED was scuppered on national interest grounds.

Kidman properties span 101,000sqkm across four States and Territories, grazing 185,000 cattle.

Mrs Rinehart had promised to buy the properties outright had FIRB again rejected the Chinese element of the bid.

The Kidman acquisition expands Ms Rinehart’s existing beef empire to one of the top three producers in Australia, with a combined herd size of up to 300,000 head.