Mr Ryan's deal with Archer to sell his service station business but retain all the freehold land is believed to have netted him tens of millions of dollars, which he now plans to use to buy cattle stations in a depressed rural market.

"We are now looking at expanding the beef side of the rural holdings and we will start looking in the new year," Mr Ryan told The Australian Financial Review.

"We are certainly in the market, especially after this deal with Archer," he said.

Mr Ryan has a little-known but vast cattle and sheep breeeding operation with about 18,000 head of cattle and 7500 head of sheep covering more than 300,000 hectares in northern and western Queensland.