Australia: Asciano resolves dispute clearing path for $6.8 billion buyout

Australian freight giant Asciano on Monday said it has resolved a legal dispute with a trucking subsidiary that had threatened to delay a A$9.1 billion buyout led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.

Asciano said it agreed to give its half stake in Sydney trucking business Australian Container Freight Services to the family which owned the other half. It did not say whether the transaction involved payment.

Asciano added in a statement that it would also hand over some port leases to the joint venture.

The settlement will be a welcome respite for Asciano and the global consortium of investors from Canada, Australia, China and the Middle East which has been trying to buy it for more than a year.

After a protracted bid war and some regulatory setbacks delayed the takeover, the co-owners of ACFS last month asked the Supreme Court of New South Wales to make Asciano confirm its rights under the buyout plan.

The specifics of ACFS’s concerns were not made clear, but Asciano had said it would defend the action, raising the prospect of yet another complication affecting the deal.

Full Content: Reuters

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.