AustralianSuper and IFM's long-term business case for Port Botany and Port Kembla, which were sold by the NSW Government for a record $5.1 billion in 2013, is under threat after the competition watchdog took the investment groups to court over deeds in the sale agreement that were allegedly "anti-competitive and illegal."

The deeds were designed to protect the funds against the development of a competing container terminal at the Port of Newcastle by obliging the NSW government to pay AustralianSuper and IFM and their consortium partner Tawreed Investments a $100 fee on every container moved in and out though Newcastle once the port grew big enough to handle 30,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually.