According to today's Australian Financial Review, well before the property officially came on to the market in November, the AAco board was presented with an offer to buy the famous station from advisers to Tipperary's vendor, Allan Myers, QC.

But AAco's former chief, Nick Burton Taylor, who holds just under 3pc of its shares, said the board gave Tipperary Station the "thumbs-down".

"When I was acting CEO there was a proposition put to the company which was that Tipperary would be folded into AAco for a combination of cash and equity, but it never got to the transaction aspect because after the assessment the property was rejected," he said.

"I have major misgivings about the strategic swap of proven pastoral producing land, which is profitable, for I what suspect is unproven. To my knowledge Tipperary has never been profitable."