Brookfield lingers after Loscam auction

Loscam’s owners are keen to sell 40 per cent of the logistics company.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is out of the race to buy the $3bn-plus logistics business Loscam, but could its private equity rival Brookfield still be in the talks?

There’s chatter in the market that the Canadian private equity firm may have put forward a bid to buy 40 per cent of the business.

KKR left the race after the Loscam owners changed direction with the sale and determined they only wanted to divest 40 per cent.

The understanding is that KKR was only interested in a deal where it could have purchased all of the company.

Earlier, the understanding was that about three to four bidders had submitted offers in the UBS-run competition.

Working with KKR was Morgan Stanley, while Macquarie Asset Management was thought to have been interested and EQT may have bid. Brambles, advised by Greenhill, only wanted the Southeast Asia division.

China Merchants purchased Loscam in 2010 for $US650m in a deal involving Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, and in 2018 it sold down a 55 per cent interest to CITIC Capital Partners and FountainVest.

Parties had earlier been told all of Loscam – the Australian and New Zealand operations, the Southeast Asia business and the Chinese operation that includes the Chep China it bought from Brambles – were on offer.

It is believed annual EBITDA for the Australian, NZ and Asian operations – including China and Southeast Asia – are at least $200m. Loscam’s owners were looking for a price somewhere between 13 and 15 times that number, which put the sale price at more than $3bn.