The sale of Australia’s port of Melbourne has entered the second round as the letters with details on the second stage of the process were sent out on Friday.
The bidders for the second round of the sale of a 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne include two local bidding consortiums, namely, the Macquarie Capital-advised IFM, MIRA and APG consortium, the Credit Suisse and Gresham-backed bidding group comprising Queensland Investment Corporation, Borealis and Global Infrastructure Partners, as well as a Chinese bidder China Merchants, which was earlier confirmed as the third bidder for the Port of Melbourne.
The second round of bids for the port of Melbourne are due in September.
In March 2016, the Victorian government launched the tender for the expression of interest for the sale, some two weeks after the passage of the Port of Melbourne Lease Transaction Bill 2015.
The government earlier said that it expects to announce a preferred leaseholder before the end of 2016.
The lease proceeds, set at AUD 6 billion (USD 4.5 billion), are intended to be used for removing 50 of the state’s worst level crossings and building key infrastructure initiatives in addition to the establishment of a new AUD 200 million Agriculture Infrastructure and Jobs Fund.
In June 2015, the sale of the port hit a snag as the process encountered opposition from the Liberal-National coalition, which said said it would not support the sale in the upper house and would recommend the proposal to be referred to a parliamentary inquiry.
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