State Grid Corp of China (國家電網), the nation’s biggest electricity distributor, and billionaire Li Ka-shing’s (李嘉誠) Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd (長江基建) are among the suitors planning to submit bids for Australian power network Ausgrid, people with knowledge of the matter said.
State-owned China Southern Power Grid Co (中國南方電網) also plans to submit an indicative offer with the Qatar Investment Authority for the Ausgrid lease by Monday’s deadline, the people said.
The 50.4 percent holding in Ausgrid, which is being sold by the New South Wales Government, could fetch more than A$10 billion (US$7.2 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
Australian assets, including ports, power networks and properties, are attracting increasing interest from overseas buyers drawn to the nation’s stable economic growth.
Buyers from China announced US$15.5 billion of acquisitions in Australia last year, up 55 percent from the previous year, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
The bidders have begun sounding out banks for financing, the people said.
The New South Wales Government is offering a buyer a partial long-term lease to operate Ausgrid, while retaining ownership of the asset.
A Beijing-based spokesman for State Grid did not immediately respond to faxed questions, while a representative for China Southern Power Grid did not answer telephone calls and an e-mail seeking comment.
A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Cheung Kong Infrastructure did not respond to calls and an e-mail seeking comment.
“The Ausgrid transaction is progressing well, with strong interest shown from the market,” a representative for New South Wales Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian said in an e-mailed statement, declining to comment on specific bidders. “We expect to receive indicative bids shortly and are on track to announcing the successful bidder by the middle of 2016.”
The New South Wales Government in 2014 appointed Deutsche Bank AG and UBS Group AG as advisers to sell the 50.4 percent Ausgrid lease, in the hopes of raising billions of dollars to fund new railways, roads, hospitals and other infrastructure.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
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