BROOKFIELD Infrastructure Partners is working on plans to revive its $9 billion takeover bid for Asciano, including splitting Asciano into separate port and rail entities and teaming up with co-investors, including Australia's Macquarie Group.
It's understood Brookfield is considering a handful of options as it prepares for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to reject its existing cash and scrip bid next fortnight. The options include structural separation of Asciano's port and rail assets.
Sources said Brookfield was considering keeping a majority stake in Asciano's $1.5 billion ports business and only a minority stake in Asciano's rail operator, Pacific National.
The Canadian infrastructure manager has spoken to potential co-investors for the rail unit, including Macquarie, which is actively using its strong balance sheet and share price to acquire Australian assets.
Brookfield and Macquarie know each other well, having teamed up to pay $2.7 billion for Apache Corporation's Australian oil and gas assets in April.
Macquarie's investment banking arm has also been advising Brookfield on its Asciano bid, along with Citi.
Sources said the structural separation proposal would be similar to a rival takeover offer from Qube Holdings.
Chris Corrigan-led Qube proposed to acquire Asciano's Patrick container terminal business and interest in Australian Amalgamated Terminals, which provides services to stevedores, while co-investors Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board would buy the rail assets. Qube commenced due diligence on Asciano last month.
Deutsche Bank analysts have valued Asciano's ports assets at $1.5 billion, excluding debt, and the transport business at $5.9 billion on the same basis.
It is understood Brookfield's other options under consideration include asset sales, an asset swap with Qube and its partners, or retaining its 19.99 per cent stake in Asciano and sitting on its shareholder register as a long-term owner.
A Brookfield spokesman declined to comment. A Macquarie spokeswoman also declined to comment.
Macquarie's emergence in Brookfield's camp would be another interesting twist in the takeover saga, and could reopen old wounds between some powerful infrastructure players.
Qube chairman Chris Corrigan, who formerly ran Patrick Corporation, had a run-in with Macquarie when it bought Sydney Airport in 2002.
Patrick, which owned a half-stake in Virgin Blue, had agreed to get more space at Sydney Airport for the growing airline. However, months later Macquarie bought Sydney Airport and Virgin found itself with less space and associated services than it needed.
Virgin ran a series of controversial advertisements criticising the move, with taglines including "Macquarie Bank, what a bunch of bankers".
Mr Corrigan himself told the Nine Network: "This is not behaviour that I would judge to be what you'd expect from a reputable organisation."
Asciano shares closed down 2¢ at $8.71 on Thursday.
The deliberations come as the ACCC prepares to make its ruling on Brookfield's current $9 billion bid by December 17.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims has already made his feelings known on the potential tie-up, describing Brookfield owning above and below rail networks in Western Australia as a "red-light" concern.
Brookfield offered a suite of undertakings addressing the ACCC's issues relating to vertical integration of below rail assets in Western Australia and the integration of port and rail assets in Queensland. However, Mr Sims said the "behavioural" undertakings were not acceptable last week.
Brookfield operates a 5500-kilometre freight rail network in WA that farmers use to send commodities to ports for export, and also operates the Dalrymple Bay coal export terminal in Queensland.
Pacific National transports coal to the terminal.
Some WA rail network users were worried Brookfield could force higher access charges on Pacific National's competitors or strategically use maintenance services and train paths to its advantage.
