- Qube, Brookfield, global backers make A$9.1 bln offer
- Asciano recommends new offer
- Qube taps investors for A$800 mln to pay for its share
(Adds quote, updates shares, names Qube bankers)
Australia's Qube Holdings Ltd (QUB) said it has joined Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc
and international partners to make a A$9.1 billion ($6.8 billion) bid for ports and rail freight company Asciano Ltd (AIO). The freight handler said in a statement on Tuesday it had terminated a previous stand-alone bid and replaced it with a joint offer with Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority for the Australian firm's strategic port business.
Asciano's rail freight unit would go to China Investment Corp [CIC.UL], the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, British Columbia Investment Management Corp, and U.S. private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners, Qube added.
Qube planned to raise A$800 million in an equity raising to pay for the purchase, hoping to end the fiercest ongoing takeover battle in the Asia-Pacific region after more than seven months of wrangling.
"The agreement we have now reached represents the most common sense resolution to the ownership of Asciano and delivers the best result for all stakeholders," Qube Managing Director Maurice James said in a statement.
The deal ends months of uncertainty about the ownership of the Australian freight giant, which recommended a stand-alone offer from Brookfield last July then switched its preference to smaller Sydney-listed Qube earlier this year.
In a statement, Asciano confirmed that it now endorsed the joint bid, the third it has recommended, without giving a reason.
Asciano shares rose 1.2 percent to A$8.98, below the A$9.28 offer price, amid investor doubts about whether the deal will eventuate.
Qube shares were in a trading halt as it presses ahead with a capital raising managed by JP Morgan and UBS.
($1 = 1.3355 Australian dollars)
