Asciano Limited has responded to media speculations linking the company with China Merchants Group as a potential buyer of the company’s terminals and logistics division Patrick Terminals.
The announcement has followed the speculations that the China Merchants Group put forward a USD 1bn offer for a majority stake in the business, which runs international container terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Asciano has confirmed that it has been, and continues to be, in discussions with third parties in relation to a potential sale of a non-controlling interest in its Terminals & Logistics business division.
According to Asciano, these discussions are preliminary and incomplete and no agreement has been reached with any parties at this stage.
Asciano also notes that these discussions are consistent with the detail in the presentation made at Asciano’s recent investor day on June 19, 2014.
The company stated that it can give no assurance that agreement will be reached or that any transaction will take place.
[mappress]
World Maritime News Staff, July 18th, 2014