Aspirations by China’s State Grid to buy Jemena are understood to have put an end to a possible sale of the energy business.
GIP last year made an $1.8bn proposal to buy a 40 per cent interest in the gas business from Singapore Power. State Grid, controlled by the Chinese government, owns the remainder.
The understanding is that while it wanted to lift its holding, it would be prohibited to do so by the Foreign Investment Review Board.
For this reason, it was unhappy about the GIP deal.
GIP fended off competition from Stonepeak for the asset.
As earlier reported, Stonepeak has hired JPMorgan and Macquarie Capital to compete for a 40 per cent stake in the $5bn Jemena energy business.
Jemena owns Australian energy infrastructure assets, including gas pipelines and gas and electricity networks in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The Singapore Power interest was on the market through Goldman Sachs.
Chinese groups have previously been prevalent buyers of major infrastructure assets in Australia but have been absent from auctions in recent years.
When they do turn up, the seller often chooses other bidders because of the time taken to get clearance from the FIRB to clear acquisitions by Chinese groups.
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