It is reported that Brookfield Asset Management, the group that rescued Babcock & Brown Infrastructure, plans to expand the capacity of the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal to capture the benefits of the next commodity boom.
Mr Bruce Flatt CEO of Brookfield will tour the coal loading facility near Mackay in north Queensland this week, after the company paid USD 295 million for a 49.5% stake in the asset last month.
The purchase was part of the overall deal in which Brookfield became the cornerstone investor with 40% of Prime Infrastructure, the former BBI business, as part of the USD 1.8 billion recapitalization lifeline.
Mr Flatt said that "We are a long term investor in both our real estate and our infrastructure businesses in Australia; we plan on being here for a long period of time. When you buy into an investment, you get the asset, but you always get the management, the organization, the people that can build it up for the future. We would say that in 25 years from now we would have expanded and grown many of the assets in the portfolio."
Under the deal, Brookfield also took on half of Dalrymple Bay's USD 1.7 billion worth of debt in the transaction.
Mr Flatt said that the asset was primed for expansion to capture the benefits of the next commodity supercycle.
Mr Flatt rejected suggestions that Dalrymple Bay, in its current state, may miss out on the next resources boom. He said that "The commodity boom is something that is going to happen for the next 25 years, not just the next two years. Our view is that if you're a foreign investor and looking at Australia, it's an attractive place given the size, the amount of resources, the fiscal situation and the rule of law."
Brookfield escalated its Australian investments in 2007 when it paid USD 4.2 billion for Multiplex, the commercial property and development group. Brookfield also took ownership of PD Ports, the British port operator, as part of the BBI transaction. Its stake in the new Prime Infrastructure has struggled, with the stock falling from the USD 5.08 paid by Brookfield to USD 3.91.
(Sourced from www.minesearchafrica.com)
