Stonepeak teams with Spirit Super to take over Australia’s GeelongPort

New York-headquartered alternative investment firm Stonepeak and Australian industry super fund Spirit Super have struck a deal to acquire Victoria’s second-largest port, GeelongPort, in a deal estimated to be worth around A$1.1bn ($732m).

Under the terms of the deal, Stonepeak will hold 70% of GeelongPort while Spirit Super, which has A$25bn worth of funds under management, will hold the remaining 30%.

GeelongPort facilitates more than $7bn worth of trade for some of the state’s largest businesses. It comprises 15 berths over two primary precincts and handles close to 12m tonnes of cargo with more than 600 vessels visiting each year.

The transaction is expected to close towards the end of the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

The port is being sold by Brookfield Asset Management and State Super. It had earlier been agreed for sale to Palisade Investment Partners and Spirit Super but the deal fell through after the buyers reportedly failed to receive approval from competition regulators.

Stonepeak last year acquired Seapeak, formerly Teekay LNG Partners, for an enterprise value of $6.2bn. Seapeak in October bought Danish gas shipping company Evergas for $700m in cash.