Freight Rail

Acacia Ridge terminal sale finalises

With regulatory hurdles out of the way, the money has now changed hands for Aurizon’s sale of the Acacia Ridge Terminal to Pacific National.

The $205 million sale of Aurizon’s Acacia Ridge Terminal to Pacific National has been completed, with all conditions satisfied and outstanding funds transferred to Aurizon.

Aurizon has already received a non-refundable payment of $35 million.

The balance of $170 million was received recently by Aurizon.

Tax payable on the sale is an estimated $40 million, resulting in net remaining proceeds of approximately $130 million.

According to an Aurizon statement, the contract became unconditional following approval of the transaction by the Foreign Investment Review Board in February 2021.

Late last year, the High Court rejected an application by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that sought leave to appeal a decision by the Full Federal Court allowing the sale to proceed.

The Terminal sale completes Aurizon’s three-stage exit from its loss-making Intermodal business, comprising:

  • Closure of the Interstate intermodal business (outside Queensland) completed in December 2017;
  • Sale of the Queensland Intermodal business to Linfox which was completed on 31 January 2019 ($7.3 million received by Aurizon); and
  • Sale of the Acacia Ridge Terminal, south of Brisbane.