Petronas may bid for Australian Pipeline stake::


PETROLIAM Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Babcock & Brown Ltd are among the logical bidders for the stake in Australian Pipeline Trust, the nation's biggest owner of gas pipelines, that must be sold by Alinta Ltd, UBS AG said.
Diversified Utility & Energy Trusts and rival Australian energy transmission funds such as Spark Infrastructure Group, SP AusNet, Challenger Infrastructure Fund and Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund may also bid, UBS said in a report on Monday.Australia's antitrust regulator last week approved a proposed A$6.45 billion (A$1 = RM2.79) asset and debt swap between Australian Gas Light Co and Perth-based Alinta on condition that Alinta sell Australian Gas's 30 per cent stake in Australian Pipeline. Petronas owns 10 per cent of Sydney-based Australian Pipeline. "We think the 30 per cent Australian Pipeline stake will come up for auction 12 months after" the transaction between Australian Gas and Alinta, Craig Stafford, a Sydney-based UBS analyst, said in the report. The timing of the sale will "allow for more bidding tension", he said.The 30 per cent stake is worth A$350.6 million given Australian Pipeline's share price of A$4.19 at 1.30pm Sydney time. The company is bidding with Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group for GasNet Australia Group, which yesterday recommended shareholders reject the offer as inadequate.Under the ruling August 3 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australian Gas has first right of refusal over the 30 per cent stake in Australian Pipeline.Australian Gas chief executive officer Paul Anthony said in April that after the Alinta transaction the company will focus on generating and retailing energy in competitive markets rather than on transmission."We believe Australian Gas is not interested in" buying back the Australian Pipeline stake, UBS said.Petronas is a partner with Australian Gas in a project to build a pipeline to pipe gas from Papua New Guinea to eastern Australia. - Bloomberg