Australia's largest contiguous sheep station has been bought by billionaire Adelaide businessman Khalil (Charlie) Shahin, whose family founded the On The Run (OTR) petrol station and convenience store network.
The three South Australian stations — which have a combined total of nearly 1.3 million hectares — were purchased for an undisclosed sum after being on the market for around two months.
Mr Shahin and his family have a combined wealth of $1.93 billion, putting them in the top 95 of Australia's richest families or individuals, according to this year's Rich List.
The family, who came to Australia as Palestinian refugees in the 1980s, founded OTR; a company they sold for $1.2bn in 2023. The sale for which was finalised last year.
Charlie and Fred Shahin. Fred started the family company, now Peregrine Corporation, with the purchase of a single service station in 1984. (Supplied)
The stations — Commonwealth Hill, Mobella and Bulgunnia — were all sold by the family farming dynasty the MacLachlans under the company name Jumbuck Pastoral.
The nearly 140-year-old company is one of Australia's oldest and most powerful farming families with an empire that extended across South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales.
Elders Real Estate chief executive Tom Russo, who oversaw the sale, would not comment on how much the three properties sold for.
Speaking with the SA's Country Hour, Mr Russo said the 1.29 million hectares in South Australia's far north-west was "some of the largest sheep productions ever offered to the market".
"We saw corporate investors, both domestic and international, have a good look at this asset. We also saw really strong incumbent local pastoral families participate in the process and run the ruler over the assets," he said.
The 310,000ha Bulgunnia sheep station in SA's outback is a two-hour drive from Coober Pedy. (Supplied: Elders)
Mr Russo said the sale was part of the multi-generation farming family's proactive succession planning process.
"Like all families, there comes a point in time where succession planning needs to be done and ... they've divested a few stations now," he said.
"We can see now that that's the end of that ... and the group [Jumbuck Pastoral] … is now divided up between the siblings and they'll continue to run individual assets themselves and get on with creating their own legacies."
Mr Russo added that the relatively quick sale of the 1.29m ha of traditional merino country, which was capable of running more than 83,300 sheep, was indicative of how Mr Shahin did business.
"He knows what he's looking for and he acts quickly and decisively," he said.
"Charlie actually has agriculture in his blood. He studied agronomy back in the day … Charlie intends to keep running it as a sheep station. I think we can probably see an enterprise change in terms of perhaps some dorpers into the production mix."
Since the sale of OTR in 2023, Mr Shahin and his family have been acquiring massive agricultural stations under the business group ATAYF, which is made of up Mr Shahin, his wife and his daughters.
In 2024, the family purchased the 408,000-hectare cattle station Aileron in the Northern Territory.
The Shahin family, including Charlie Shahin (far right), sold OTR to Viva Energy (CEO Scott Wyatt pictured second from left). (Supplied)
In a statement from Elders provided on Mr Shahin's behalf, the chairman of ATAYF said owning and working with agricultural assets had been "a lifelong ambition" of his.
"This acquisition is a long-term family investment. We intend to build on the foundations established by Jumbuck, support the existing operations and continue investing in the productivity and resilience of the enterprise for future generations," he said.
"We have great confidence in the future of the Australian sheep and wool industry. Demand for high-quality natural fibre and premium protein continues to grow globally and Australia remains uniquely positioned to meet that demand."
The ABC has sought direct comment from the Shahin family.
End to a family dynasty
According to Jumbuck Pastoral's website, the Jumbuck North West Pastoral Aggregation of Commonwealth Hill, Mobella and Bulgunnia consists of 23 staff.
While a fourth station Mulgathing, adjoins the properties recently sold off, it was not part of the sale.
In a company-wide newsletter released following the listing of the three sheep stations, Jumbuck Pastoral said the decision had "not been made lightly".
These words were reiterated in a statement from Elders on MacLachlan Pastoral Group executive director Callum MacLachlan's behalf, saying it was important to Jumbuck Pastoral the stations were passed to an owner "who understood the significance of the assets, respected the work of the people who have managed them and shared our belief in the future of Australian agriculture".
Jumbuck Pastoral has been selling off its agricultural assets. (Supplied: Sarah Bensen)
"We have come to know Charlie [Shahin] and his family through this process and believe they will be excellent custodians of the aggregation.
"Their commitment to long-term investment, family values and Australian agriculture gives us great confidence that these stations have a bright future ahead of them.
"While this transaction represents the end of one chapter, we are pleased that the next chapter will be written by another South Australian family with a genuine passion for the land and a multi-generational perspective."
The ABC has sought direct comment from Jumbuck Pastoral and the MacLachlan family.
Jumbuck Pastoral was established in South Australia in 1888 by HP MacLachlan at Paratoo Station near Yunta.
Charlie Shahin (second from right) with his late father Fred Shahin and brothers. (Supplied)
In more recent years, Jumbuck Pastoral announced it would start breaking up and selling off its massive agricultural assets as part of proactive succession planning.
Last year Jumbuck Pastoral sold the largest of its stations, which is also Australia's largest sheep station to a foreign buyer.
The million-hectare station Rawlinna in Western Australia's remote Nullarbor was sold by Jumbuck to UK-based Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) for an undisclosed sum.
The deal included a flock of about 30,000 sheep and was subject to several conditions, including approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and the WA government, which needed to sign off on the transfer of the pastoral lease.
