The takeover battle for Australian port and rail company Asciano appears to have been won by Australian freight logistics firm Qube after its offer worth A$8.9 billion ($6.4 billion) was unanimously recommended by Asciano to its shareholders on Tuesday.
Rival bidder, Bermuda-based investment fund Brookfield Infrastructure Partners had encountered regulatory hurdles to its bid for Asciano when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission stepped in to review the overlap between its existing port and rail businesses and those of Asciano.
Qube told the Australian Securities Exchange in a statement Tuesday that it and its partner investors in the takeover had entered into a bid implementation deed with Asciano's board of directors for the sale of its ports business.
"The Asciano board has withdrawn its recommendation of the Brookfield proposal to separately acquire Asciano by way of a takeover offer or scheme of arrangement," said Qube in its statement.
Brookfield's bid was to lapse on Thursday, and Asciano is to pay a break fee of A$88 million to the Bermuda-based investment fund.
Qube's partners -- Global Infrastructure Management, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and CIC Capital Corporation of China -- aim to take control of Asciano's freight rail division Pacific National which hauls Australian coal exports for a number of customers including, Peabody Energy and Rio Tinto.
The Qube consortium had offered Asciano's shareholders A$7.04/share cash and one Qube share to each Asciano share, plus a special dividend payment of up to A$0.97/share.
The Qube consortium's bid for Asciano has an implied value of A$9.17/share based on the weighted average price of Qube's shares in the 30 days prior to Monday.
Qube and its partners' offer values Asciano at A$8.9 billion based on its roll of 975.3 million shares.
Qube said its proposed acquisition of Asciano's ports business in Australia "creates significant opportunities for productivity improvement and innovation across the Australian logistics and transportation sector."
Australia's competition regulator the ACCC had started to review third-party submissions on Brookfield's commitments to divest to an independent operator Asciano's Pacific National rail freight business, and to ensure independent operation and decision-making at its Dalrymple Bay coal terminal in Queensland.
