Australia’s competition watchdog says it will monitor transport and logistics firm Qube’s surprise takeover manoeuvre for Pacific National owner Asciano.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week announced it would monitor Qube Holdings’ potential Asciano takeover, after Qube and its two investment partners – Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board – acquired a 19.99% interest in Asciano on October 29.
Qube made the surprise move as part of an effort to block Canada/Bermuda player Brookfield Infrastructure Partners in its own takeover bid – over which the ACCC has already voiced concerns.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims touched on the situation on Thursday, November 5, in a speech to the RBB Economics Conference in Sydney.
“Brookfield’s proposal to acquire Asciano is a transaction that has raised significant concerns in the market,” Sims said.
“These are in relation to vertical integration issues due to Brookfield’s ownership of the below rail network in WA, and the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal in Queensland, alongside Asciano’s Pacific National above rail business.
“There is, of course, the recent development of Qube injecting itself into the conversation by buying 19.9% of Asciano, which adds a new dimension to our review.”
Sims said the international interest in Asciano was just one of several merger/acquisition moves to be pushed across the ACCC’s desk in recent months.
“Since the beginning of the year, the ACCC has experienced an increase in the number and complexity of mergers under review,” he said.
“An unusually high proportion of these are cross-border mergers with high transaction values which appear to be fuelled by pre-GFC levels of liquidity and business confidence.”
Qube announced its Asciano move on October 30, stating unequivocally that it was opposed to the Brookfield bid, a deal that has, in any case, been delayed by concerns from the ACCC.
The ACCC expects to announce its final decision on the Brookfield side of the situation by December 17. A timeline for how it will handle the Qube action is unclear.