Australia's largest private landowners and graziers, Donnie and Colleen Costello, have expanded their ranching empire to more than 9.2 million hectares with the purchase of the Mount Doreen Station in the Northern Territory for $70 million.
According to commercialrealestate.com.au, the Costellos and their partner, former racehorse trainer Viv Oldfield, purchased the property, along with the range lease on the 733,700-hectare organic farm north-west of Alice Springs, for $34.7 million.
They reportedly purchased 18,000 head of cattle at $2,000 each for a further $36 million.
Mount Doreen Station was established in 1932 by William and Doreen Breitling and is located on the Tanami Road, approximately 380km northwest of Alice Springs.
These days it is run by brothers Matthew and Shane Breitling, grandsons of William and Doreen.
The farm receives an average rainfall of around 300mm and in average rainfall years it regularly stocks over 30,000 cattle, with a long term sustainable capacity of 22,000-23,000 cattle.
Through the Crown Point Ranch Company, the Costello and Oldfield families currently own 13 ranches, an area roughly three times the size of Belgium.
Mount Doreen Station. Photo: commercialrealestate.com.au
Other assets in Crown Point Pastoral's portfolio include Australia's second largest cattle ranch, the 1.65 million hectare Clifton Hills Ranch, located in the north-eastern corner of South Australia.
The graziers bought the 1.335 million hectare Innamincka and 1.1 million hectare Macumba properties in South Australia from Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman & Co earlier this year, overtaking Western Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart to become the country's largest landowner.
Mount Doreen Station. Photo: commercialrealestate.com.au
Last year Crown Point also bought the adjoining leases of Ruby Plains and Start Creek, covering about 800,000 hectares in the southeast Kimberley region, from Mr Reinerhart, who had listed seven ranches, one feedlot and about 110,000 head of cattle for sale for $300 million.
The fiercely private Costellos run Crown Point Pastoral from Lila Creek Station south of Alice Springs, while Mr Oldfield, who also owns drilling company Silver City Drilling and outback trucking company Tanami Transport, is based in Alice Springs.