A Chinese company — either China State Construction Engineering or China Rail Construction Corporation — is believed to be bidding for Australian builder Probuild.
The company, owned by South Africa’s WBHO, is understood to have been on the market for about a year and is thought to be worth more than $200m.
WBHO this week announced it had fielded a proposal for an acquisition of Probuild, and it is understood to be from one of the two state-owned Chinese groups.
Working for WBHO is Investec.
Chinese and Japanese companies are understood to be circling the Australian construction market for acquisition opportunities. The interest in Probuild comes after reports from Spain that a Chinese group recently tried to buy Australian construction powerhouse CIMIC.
Probuild includes a construction arm and a more problematic infrastructure arm that generates about $1.7bn of annual turnover.
However, it is understood that the approach was for the construction business only.
Challenges with the infrastructure business prompted WBHO to look for an exit from the Australian market.
Among its projects are Perth’s Ritz Carlton Greenland Centre in Sydney’s World Square.
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