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The Canadian bidders for Australian road operator Transurban Group look like they are getting some local help after their first $6.2-billion (U.S.) offer hit resistance, as the Australian Future Fund is in talks to add its heft to the bid.

Having the $64-billion (Australian) sovereign wealth fund on side may enable the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to add to the cash and stock bid they now have on the table. It would also make it much harder for Transurban management to play any "foreigners are coming" cards they might be thinking about in their defense, something that CPPIB in particular has faced in the region when it bid for a New Zealand airport.

In its statement, the Future Fund said it's not a sure thing that it will back the bid but that preliminary talks have started and the goal would be a joint bid that would help CPPIB and Teachers remove some of the conditions on the bid that may be hampering its success.

Transurban's roads are exactly the kinds of assets that the Canadian funds love -- stable revenue producers whose fees will rise with inflation, giving protection for the pensioners in the funds, and located in politically stable countries with solid economies. Look for the Canadians to go hard to close this deal.

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