Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) is believed to be keeping an open file on Sanjeev Gupta's Infrabuild Trading Pty. Ltd. should it become available for sale at a discount price. It comes amid a growing focus on the steel business that sits within Gupta's troubled GFG Alliance empire and with the unravelling of the Whyalla steel works in South Australia that is within the GFG stable.
DataRoom reported earlier that suitors were starting to circle. The understanding is that the business has been examined by Apollo, which counts former Rio Tinto mining operative Trevor Mills within its ranks. Apollo, which has invested in financial group Challenger and services company Ventia, is no stranger to the local market, weighing up involvement in various special situations.
Another party understood to have shown some interest in buying InfraBuild is Reosteel Pty. Ltd., run by the Ibrahim family, which is InfraBuild's largest competitor in steel bars. But sources say it would not have the capital to buy InfraBuild, which would come with a price tag in the billions as a dominant Australian industry player.
