FILIPINO banker and property developer Romeo Roxas is buying two major cattle stations in the Northern Territory for more than $20 million, joining the rush of foreign investors to secure beef-producing properties.
A shrinking cattle supply and new free trade deals have sparked a run of major land transactions. Prominent deals include Chinese billionaire Xingfa Ma's purchase of Wollogorang Station in the Northern Territory for $47 million.
The competition has been strong. Mr Roxas was an underbidder on Mr Ma's Wollogorang purchase, but secured the 560,000-hectare Murray Downs station and the 265,000-hectare Epenarra Station for more than $20 million.
A long-serving director of the Philippine Veterans Bank, Mr Roxas already has significant agricultural interests in Australia.
His operating company Australian Green Properties has made at least four separate purchases since 2007 and owns more than 60,000 hectares of land around Cobar in Central NSW.
Mr Roxas is known for his masterplanned industrial, educational and resort cities in the east of the Philippines, known as Pacific Coast Cities. The development is across an 80,000-hectare property he owns in the provinces of Aurora and Quezon overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Mr Roxas was unavailable for comment but a spokesman said the businessman was very interested in the Northern Territory.
The Murray Downs and Epenarra deal was negotiated by Territory Rural's Jock McPherson, also unavailable for comment.
Investment by Asia-based buyers in Australia's northern cattle stations has been growing.
Last year two major Indonesian companies and a Chinese company bought more than $65 million worth of cattle stations.