Logistics powerhouse Toll is part of a US private equity fund’s bid to buy out the Chinese owner of the Port of Darwin, offering an Australian flavour to a transaction being driven by national security imperatives that superannuation funds are also weighing up.

The partnership by Toll and Cerberus Capital Management is just one potential suitor for the port, which is effectively on the market after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged during the election campaign to terminate Chinese company Landbridge’s 99-year lease on the key cargo gateway for northern Australia.