The board of S Kidman & Co, Australia’s largest landholder, has agreed to sell the company to a Chinese-led consortium for A$370m just months after the government blocked its sale to foreign investors on national interest grounds.

基德曼公司(S Kidman & Co)董事会已同意将公司以3.7亿澳元出售给一个中国企业牵头的财团，该公司是澳大利亚最大的土地所有者。就在几个月前澳大利亚政府以国家利益为由，阻止了该公司对外国投资者的出售计划。

The decision creates a political headache for Scott Morrison, Australia’s treasurer, who must consider whether to approve the purchase of a block farmland almost three quarters the size of England in the lead up to an election on July 2nd.

基德曼公司的这一决定，为澳大利亚联邦财政部长斯科特•莫里森(Scott Morrison)制造了一个政治麻烦。他必须在7月2日选举之前，仔细考虑是否批准基德曼公司的出售计划，所售牧场面积几乎相当于四分之三个英格兰。

Under the proposed sale a company controlled by China’s Shanghai Pengxin Group would acquire an 80 per cent stake in Kidman with the remaining 20 per cent purchased by Australian Rural Capital- a company listed on the Australian stock exchange.

根据拟议的收购协议，中国上海鹏欣(Shanghai Pengxin)旗下的一家公司将收购基德曼80%的股份，剩下20%股份由澳大利亚证交所上市的Australian Rural Capital收购。

“The consortium and Kidman have complied with all requests that have been made by the Firb and we believe the sale will secure the long term future of the Kidman enterprise,” said John Crosby, Kidman chairman.

基德曼董事会主席约翰•克罗斯比(John Crosby)表示：“该财团与基德曼已遵守外国投资审查委员会(Firb)提出的所有要求，我们相信这笔交易将确保基德曼企业未来的长期发展。”

A wave of Chinese investment into foreign housing, agriculture and public infrastructure assets is generating public concerns in many developed economies, including Australia. In response, Canberra has progressively tightened foreign investment rules and in November blocked the proposed sale of S Kidman & Co, which was founded in 1899 by so called cattle king Sidney Kidman.

中国投资者对外国住宅、农业和公共基础设施资产掀起的一波投资潮，引起了许多发达国家民众的关注，其中也包括澳大利亚。澳大利亚政府对此作出回应，逐步收紧了外国投资规则，还在去年11月阻止基德曼的出售计划。1899年，被誉为“牛王”的西德尼•基德曼(Sidney Kidman)创立了这家公司。

The consortium said it proposes to invest A$46.3m in capital improvements and restocking in the first year following the deal.

该财团表示拟投入4630万澳元，在收购交易完成后的第一年进行资产改良和补充货源。