An already busy Australian logistics heated up a bit more last week when Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure Partners made a takeover offer for Melbourne-based logistics firm Asciano, in the form of US$6.8 billion in cash and shares.
Asciano, which operates mostly in the railway and ocean shipping sectors, was spun off from Toll Holdings in 2007 and currently holds Patrick Corp. and Pacific National as it subsidiaries. Should Asciano accepts Brookfield’s offer, it would become the seventh-largest international takeover of an Australian company, and the second largest by a Canadian firm, according to Reuters.
The Asciano board and its advisers issued a statement, saying they “concluded that it was in the interests of … shareholders to engage further with Brookfield on an exclusive basis to progress the proposal.” Initial discussions between Brookfield and Asciano are now taking place before a formal takeover bid can take place.
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