Property investment fund and belated bidder for S Kidman and Company, DomaCom has enticed peer-to-peer investment business SelfWealth and a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) administrator into its crowdfunding bid for the pastoral empire.
BGL Corporate Solutions, a cloud-based SMSF "administration solution", is backing DomaCom's Kidman initiative,
It is informing clients about the potential acquisition and the opportunity to invest Australian money into the iconic 117-year-old pastoral business.
SelfWealth will allow BGL's SMSF clients to compare their fund's performance against the top 200 funds.
DomaCom has almost 4000 people expressing interest in investing up to $55 million in the bid to secure Kidman's pastoral holdings, which includes 17 stations and properties for breeding, lotfeeding and graingrowing.
However, S. Kidman and Co managing director, Greg Campbell, said DomaCom's plans were still a relative mystery to company management which had not had any direct discussions with those behind the crowdfunding initiative despite the newly-emerged fund raiser's bold ambitions.
"I really only know about DomaCom from what I've read in the media in the past month," Mr Campbell said.
In the meantime, the Kidman business was awaiting a federal government decision on applications by two different Chinese syndicates which had re-submitted bids to acquire about 70 per cent of the company's holdings after the Anna Creek Station portion near Woomera in South Australia was drafted off for a separate sale.
DomaCom chief executive officer, Arthur Naoumidis admitted his company's novel approach to raising the $350m to $400m-plus needed to buy Kidman and Co was about six months late.
"A successful bid is a long shot," he said.
"But with partners such as BGL and SelfWealth believing in our model and helping to promote it we may actually succeed."
There was a clear appetite for rural property and many potential investors expressed their support for other agricultural acquisitions if the Kidman bid did not succeed.
There had not been any opportunity for investors to participate in major rural property investments of their choice until DomaCom had developed its fractional investment model.
DomaCom has also appointed Sydney stock broking firm Shaw and Partners to assist in splitting the Kidman of properties from the operating business if it is successful in buying the business.
DomaCom intends to operate the landholdings but has talked to other cattle enterprises about taking over managing the 180,000 Kidman herd and related equipment.
BGL managing director, Ron Lesh, said his business supported innovation and DomaCom was leading the way in developing a solution which broke down high-cost assets such as property into small chunks to give investors access to assets they normally could not buy.
"The potential acquisition of Kidman and Co demonstrates the scalability of DomaCom's fractional investment model."
Mr Naoumidis described the bid as a great example of innovative businesses co-operating in the financial services industry.
"If we do succeed it will be the world's largest successful crowdfunding campaign, quite fitting for the world's largest privately owned cattle grazing business," he said.
