BEIJING: Australia’s fourth-largest meat processor has sold a 45 percent stake in its business to Chinese company Shan Dong Delisi Food Co, in an early test of the new free trade agreement terms.
News Corp reported yesterday that the deal, worth upward of US$105 million to Australian company Bindaree Beef Group, is likely to test the Chinese market for beef imports after the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement was struck in June.
Under the FTA, Shan Dong is allowed to supply cut-price beef to up to 700 million Chinese buyers.
Bindaree’s chief financial officer James Roger said the FTA will bring “enormous benefits” to Australia’s beef industry.
“With the benefits from the FTA flowing to the Australian beef industry, the opportunity to become a premium beef supplier to China is one that we expect will bring enormous benefits, not just to Bindaree but to Australia’s broader beef industry,” Roger said in a statement.
Bindaree’s decision to sell nearly half its stake in the business to its Chinese-based rival would open up greater opportunities for China’s middle class to access Australian beef.
