Macquarie Asset Management is leading a consortium to buy Qube and remove it from the Australian Securities Exchange at a time when new listings are scarce and several major infrastructure and industrial names have already disappeared from public markets. Qube, which runs key logistics assets including a large rail freight hub in western Sydney, has grown into a central player in Australia’s freight and ports network and is attractive to long term infrastructure investors looking for stable, asset backed returns.
Under the proposal, the consortium will acquire Qube for $5.20 a share in cash, valuing the group at about $11.7 billion and representing a near 28% premium to its share price before the offer emerged. Existing superannuation investor UniSuper is set to roll its stake into the private vehicle and lift its holding to roughly 20%. Around 65% of the new ownership structure will sit with Macquarie managed funds and other institutional investors such as local super funds, while approximately 15% will go to Spanish investment group Pontegadea, which brings experience in global logistics and supply chains. Qube’s shares recently traded around $5.01, which reflects market confidence that the deal, first flagged with an indicative bid several months ago, is likely to proceed once formal approvals arrive.
The investment is now Macquarie Asset Management’s largest Australian infrastructure bet and overtakes its earlier $7.6 billion energy network acquisition. It is built on expectations that Qube’s earnings will track long term demand for Australian exports, growing import flows and the rollout of renewable energy projects that need specialised freight handling. Qube holds a 50% interest in stevedore Patrick, runs container terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane and owns key auto and agricultural terminals. It is also pushing into Asia with developments such as the Bintan Offshore Marine Centre near Singapore. The consortium plans to keep Qube’s existing management in place and to use Macquarie’s broader infrastructure and energy portfolio, as well as Pontegadea’s logistics expertise, to refine port operations, improve supply chain efficiency and explore selective offshore growth once more domestic opportunities are unlocked.
For the broader market, the transaction looks like another step in the steady migration of major Australian infrastructure businesses from public to private ownership. This shift leaves everyday investors with fewer direct ways to access these assets and concentrates control among large funds and global capital pools. If regulators and shareholders sign off, the deal is scheduled to complete by early December, with any dividends paid in the 2026 financial year deducted from the $5.20 offer price and a break fee of about 1% of the transaction payable if the scheme collapses. Qube’s roughly 10,000 strong workforce and critical port assets are expected to remain central to Australia’s freight system, but the industry’s direction, especially as artificial intelligence changes how supply chains operate, now seems increasingly shaped behind closed doors rather than in public markets.
