SYDNEY, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Australia's Queensland state government has agreed to sell a 99-year lease for the Port of Brisbane to a consortium including U.S.-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners in a $2.3 billion deal.
The winning consortium, Q Port Holdings, also included Australia's Industry Funds Management, funds managed by Queensland's QIC Ltd as well as a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the government said on Wednesday.
The port's lease deal included A$2.1 billion ($2.1 billion) in cash as well as the new owner agreeing to fund a future upgrade of a section of the port's motorway for A$200 million.
"The signing of the deal represents A$2.3 billion worth of value to the Queensland taxpayer with the future development of the port now the responsibility of a quality consortium," Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser said in a statement.
Global Infrastructure Partners, Industry Funds Management and QIC would each hold stakes of about 27 percent, leaving the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority with the remaining minority stake.
Global Infrastructure was jointly founded by Credit Suisse and General Electric (GE.N).
The asset was being sold as part of a A$15 billion sale of infrastructure by the Queensland government, including rail freight group QR National which plans to list on the stock market this month.
The other consortium bidding for the port lease included Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MS.N) and Australian pension fund UniSuper, sources familiar with the matter said.
India's Adani Group (ADEL.BO) had also expressed interest in the process but was not among final bidders, the sources said.
The Australian newspaper earlier reported the A$2.3 billion price tag was around the middle of an indicative range of A$2-A$2.5 billion the government had hoped to fetch.
RBS (RBS.L) and Merrill Lynch (BAC.N) are advising the Queensland government on the sale.
The winning bid is backed by around A$1.25 billion of debt from lenders including ANZ (ANZ.AX), BBVA (BBVA.MC), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Credit Agricole CIB (CAGR.PA), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), Natixis (CNAT.PA), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (8316.T) and WestLB WDLG.UL.
The loan margin on the acquisition debt is 200bp-plus according to the financiers.
(Reporting by Michael Smith and Sharon Klyne)
