Freight Rail

Brookfield bids for Asciano

Pacific National - Credit Asciano

Pacific National parent Asciano on Wednesday confirmed that it received an indicative, non-binding, bid from Brookfield Infrastructure Group on June 25 to acquire 100% of the shares at a value of $9.05 in cash and scrip.

Payment for the shares would be in the form of a combination of cash and units in Brookfield’s listed infrastructure fund, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Limited Partnership.

“The Board of Asciano… concluded it was in the interests of its shareholders to engage further with Brookfield on an exclusive basis to progress the proposal,” the official statement reads.

Asciano, which also owns container stevedore Patrick, adds that discussions are at a “very early stage” and a number of conditions need to be satisfied, such as completion of due diligence, before any transaction can proceed.

The company also adds that there is no certainty that the proposal will result in an actual offer.

Brookfield is an “alternative” (i.e. non-public-equity) asset manager with over $200 billion in assets under management. It is the manager of the investment fund Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, a dual New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange listed investment vehicle.

In addition to operating thousands of kilometre of gas/electricity lines and pipes, it operates 30 ports worldwide.

It is also the manager & 50-year lessee of the Darymple Bay Coal Terminal, a multi-user coal export facility located 38km south of Mackay at Hay Point owned by the Queensland Government.

Asciano has been talking to multiple players about a joint venture arrangement or partnership for Patrick for some time, with China Merchants a name regularly in the frame.


Additional reporting by Charles Macdonald.