The Australian government blocked the $248 million sale of S Kidman & Co to two Chinese companies because it would be against national interest.

BBC writes that Kidman owns pastoral leases as vast as 101,411sq-km, which is bigger compared to Ireland. The Chinese companies that would buy Australia's largest private holdings are Genius Link Group and Shanghai Pengxin. These companies are bidding for the company for a price that would reach as much as A$350 million, which translates to $249 million. Kidman owns an area in the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA), which is a South Australian military weapons testing place. According to Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison, selling Kidman to the Chinese companies would not be good for the national interest.

According to Telegraph UK, Australia's prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said, ""It's a huge piece of Australia, these Kidman properties being sold in one line, and a large part of the acreage is in the Woomera prohibited area."

Part of the family-owned cattle stations is located on the Woomera prohibited are, which is a sensitive weapons test site that is important for Australia's national security. It was used for secret British nuclear testing In the 50s and 60s and is still dangerously contaminated.

The South China Morning Post reported that Australia announced earlier this year that it plans to tighten security on foreign purchases of farms in the country. Any investment of more than A$15 million will be screened by the authorities. Before that, the Australian Foreign Investment Board would only screen foreign purchases of farmlands worth A$252 million. The nation's food security is one of the major concerns that prompted the authorities to tighten regulations on these purchases.

As of now, all foreign bidders of Kidman have withdrawn and have given their applications to the Foreign Investment Review Board. Kidman in April announced that it was planning to sell its farmlands to raise funds for other investments.