Buying the bankrupt Basslink power cable is just the first step in APA Group’s alternative strategy for expanding into electricity transmission, as CEO Rob Wheals shrugs off the gas pipeline owner’s defeat to Canadian rival Brookfield in the $10 billion takeover battle for AusNet Services.

Mr Wheals described Basslink – which APA is in the box seat to buy after snapping up its senior secured debt – as just a “stepping stone” in the move into electricity infrastructure, signalling that involvement in building the second Bass Strait power cable, the proposed $3.5 billion Marinus Link, could be next.