SYDNEY, Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S investment group
Stonepeak said on Monday it would make its first Australian
purchase by agreeing to buy GeelongPort which sources said was
worth A$1.1 billion ($732 million).
Stonepeak will partner with Australian industry
superannuation Spirit Super for the deal which is expected to be
approved by regulators in the first quarter of 2023.
The statement did not identify a sale price, but the
transaction is worth about A$1.1 billion, according to two
sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
The sources could not be named as the information was not
yet made public.
Stonepeak declined to comment on the price of the deal.
Under the terms of the deal, Stonepeak will hold 70% of
GeelongPort while Spirit Super, which has A$25 billion worth of
funds under management, will hold the remaining 30%.
GeelongPort is the second largest port in Australia's
Victoria state and handles almost 12 million tonnes of cargo and
more than 600 vessel visits each year, according to the
statement.
It manages A$7 billion worth of trade a year, the statement
said.
Stonepeak is headquartered in New York and has $51.7
billion in assets under management, according to its website.
GeelongPort is being sold by Brookfield Asset Management and
State Super.
It had earlier agreed to sell the port to Spirit Super and
Palisade but the deal collapsed in August, after the buyers were
not able to receive approval from competition regulators in time
to meet the deal's deadline, local media reported at the time.
($1 = 1.5026 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Eiting by Lincoln
Feast.)