QUBE, the logistics group chaired by waterfront warrior Chris Corrigan, is trying to bust up Brookfield Infrastructure's $8.9 billion takeover bid for Asciano after buying 19.9 percent of the ports and rail group last night.
Qube made an off-market raid for Asciano's shares at $8.80 each through UBS with the help of two co-investors. They plan to block the acquisition of the company by Brookfield, a Canadian-owned infrastructure investor.
Asciano's stock closed on Thursday at $7.56. The raid was first reported by The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk column online.
Qube, which has been plotting the move for at least four months, does not support the Brookfield takeover of Asciano and intends to vote against the Bermuda-based group's takeover proposal at Asciano's annual general meeting in November, when investors will be asked to vote on the deal.
Qube's options include talking to Brookfield or Asciano about a carve up of the Australian group's Patrick container port and Pacific National rail businesses or holding a strategic stake in Asciano and taking a board seat.
Sources said no final decisions have been made.
Qube provides logistics services for companies working in Australia's import and export supply chains, offering handling and warehousing services at container ports and bulk ports around Australia and rail services. It will operate a new freight terminal at Moorebank in Sydney's south-west in partnership with rail group Aurizon from 2017 that will transfer goods by rail to and from Port Botany.
Qube, Brookfield and Asciano declined to comment on Thursday night.
The move by Qube comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned earlier this month that it had "red light" concerns over Brookfield's proposed takeover due to the vertical integration of assets that would result from the deal.
The regulator's unexpectedly severe warning caused Asciano's shares to drop well below the initial value of Brookfield's cash and stock offer, which was worth $9.15 per Asciano share when the deal was announced in August.
Brookfield operates a 5500-kilo-metre freight rail network in Western Australia that farmers use to send commodities to ports for export, and the Dalrymple Bay coal export terminal in Queensland. Pacific National transports coal to the terminal.
Customers of Brookfield's West Australian rail network are worried Brookfield could force higher access charges on Pacific National's competitors or strategically use maintenance services and railways to its advantage.
Brookfield has proposed voluntary undertakings to the ACCC that it claims will "more than meet" the issues raised by the regulator.
The regulator's concerns have worried analysts, with the ACCC's RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Johnston warning there is "a high probability" the ACCC will block the acquisition.
Credit Suisse analyst Paul Butler has estimated the deal has only a 40 per cent chance of succeeding due to the difficulties of adjusting regulations and getting the competition watchdog to accept proposed changes.
Lawyers say the ACCC needs to provide credible evidence proving that the integration of Brookfield Infrastructure and Asciano's assets would hurt the companies' customers and competitors if it blocks the deal.
UBS snapped up millions of Asciano shares earlier this month, raising its stake to 6.3 per cent from 5.2 per cent ahead of the ACCC's "statement of issues" on the proposed takeover which was released on October 15.
It increased its stake to 8.6 per cent on the day the statement of issues was released. Qube quietly built a stake of nearly 5 percent before making its raid for more shares Thursday.
