Western Australia’s port sale advisers Rothschild and Deloitte copped plenty of stick as they studied how to sell the state’s bulk port in Fremantle and iron ore terminal at Port Hedland over the past six months.
But the knockers were silenced on Thursday when the sell-side mandate was upgraded in a major way to include the country’s fourth largest container terminal.
WA’s decision to include the shipping terminal and put the entire Fremantle Port – which made $67.2 million earnings before interest and tax in the 2013-14 financial year – on the block, instantly caught the attention of the same superannuation funds and offshore infrastructure investors that have swamped similar port lease auctions in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in the past 4½ years.
Sources said the port could be up for sale before the end of the calendar year, although the state will be wary not to run into Port of Melbourne’s expected $6 billion sale.
Buyers are already lined up for the Melbourne port and have been running the numbers for the best part of a year. The process has stalled and buyers are becoming impatient.
Hopefully for everyone involved in Melbourne, the looming Fremantle deal may help convince the politicians to get its port on the block before buyer attention turns to Western Australia.
Also in Western Australia, the government once again flagged the TAB for sale. Bankers and potential advisers were not getting too excited, though, with the National Party ruling out any support for a sale and the racing industry also against the idea.
It’s a shame for Tabcorp and Tatts, who would have been keen to take a look. Tabcorp in particular is keen to consolidated its network and is believed to have an eye for New Zealand’s totaliser.
