Australia’s largest contiguous sheep station has been bought by billionaire Adelaide businessman Khalil, known as Charlie, Shahin, whose family founded the On The Run petrol station and convenience store network. The three South Australian stations, with a combined area of nearly 1.3 million hectares, were purchased for an undisclosed sum after about two months on the market.
The Shahin family, with a combined wealth of about $1.93 billion, ranks among the country’s 100 richest families or individuals on this year’s rich list. Having arrived as Palestinian refugees in the 1980s, they built On The Run from a single service station bought in 1984, and sold the business for $1.2 billion in a deal completed last year. Since then, they have been steadily acquiring large agricultural holdings through a family investment group.
The properties, Commonwealth Hill, Mobella and Bulgunnia, were sold by the long-established MacLachlan family through their company Jumbuck Pastoral, one of the country’s oldest farming dynasties, founded in South Australia in 1888. The real estate chief who oversaw the sale said the roughly 1.29 million hectares of traditional merino country, capable of running more than 83,000 sheep, was among the largest sheep-production offerings ever brought to market, drawing interest from domestic and international corporate investors as well as local pastoral families.
He described the relatively quick sale as characteristic of how the buyer operates, saying Mr Shahin knew what he was looking for and acted decisively. He added that the new owner had agriculture in his blood, having studied agronomy, and intended to keep running the aggregation as a sheep station while considering changes to the production mix. The transaction followed the family’s earlier purchase of a large Northern Territory cattle station in 2024.
In a statement issued on his behalf, the buyer said owning and working agricultural assets had been a lifelong ambition and that the acquisition was a long-term family investment aimed at supporting existing operations and improving productivity for future generations. He expressed confidence in the outlook for the sheep and wool industry, citing growing global demand for high-quality natural fibre and premium protein. The seller, meanwhile, framed the sale as part of a proactive succession plan, saying it was pleased the next chapter would be written by another family with a genuine passion for the land.
