Former Nathan Tinkler property on the market after bankruptcy declaration
Former coal baron Nathan Tinkler’s horse farm has been listed for sale for the first time since being seized by liquidators and is expected to fetch in excess of $5 million.
Tremayne, an amalgamation of four different farms on the outskirts of the Hunter town of Broke, has been listed for sale by expressions of interest.
The property was once a key component of Tinkler’s doomed Patinack race horse stud venture and is being sold as a result of Patinack Farm Holdings entering liquidation.
Listed with local agent Shelly Jurd, of Jurds Real Estate, on behalf of liquidator Deloitte, the property has been attracting a great deal of buyer interest following a six-month hiatus from the market.
“It’s had a lot of interest, mostly city based,” Ms Jurd said.
Nathan Tinkler, former CEO of Australian Pacific Coal and owner of Tremayne. Photo: Brendan Thorne/Bloomberg
Options for the new owner of the 1397-hectare property, which is spread over 23 separate titles, include subdividing the land back to its original four-farm state or conducting further subdivision into 100-hectare allotments.
Asked to give an estimated price range for the property, Ms Jurd cited the recent sale of a smaller property to energy company AGL.
“I just sold a similar, but smaller, property to AGL for $5.2 million,” she said.
Tremayne is located five minutes south of the village of Broke, a tourist destination in the Hunter Valley which is around two hours north of Sydney.
Mr Tinkler began work on the former grazing property in order to turn it into a horse stud facility, with 33 horse yards of timber post and wire construction in place.
The property has three houses, described by Jurds as “older style”, cattle yards, farm equipment and hay sheds.
It also has eight kilometres of river frontage to the Wollombi Brook.
“It’s completely private – it’s got its own little valley,” Ms Jurd said. “It’s the biggest parcel of land that we’re aware of this close to Sydney.
Caveats over the property mean that Mr Tinkler’s creditors – most notably businessman Gerry Harvey – will receive a significant portion of the sale proceeds.
Mr Tinkler was once a key member of the BRW Rich List – having made his wealth on the back of an opportune purchase, and subsequent sale of, the Middlemount Coal Mine.
In recent times, Mr Tinkler and his various companies has been beset by insolvency proceedings driven largely by the global decline in coal prices, with several businesses being forced into administration.
In February, Mr Tinkler stepped down from the board of Australian Pacific Coal after being declared bankrupt by the federal court.
Expressions of interest for Tremayne close on Friday, June 10, 2016.
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