Business Spectator: Cheung Kong, APA rivals in $3bn BG pipeline bid

Hong Kong conglomerate Cheung Kong will again rival APA Group in the upcoming bidding race for British Gas giant BG Group’s pipeline assets in Queensland, worth about $3 billion. 

Cheung Kong is fresh from winning control of Envestra after APA took Cheung Kong’s $2.37bn offer for its one-third stake in the gas distributor on Thursday.

Gas distributor APA will get $784 million in gross proceeds from the sale, and that could make APA's funding capability very competitive in the new race for BG’s assets, a source close to the situation said.

Cheung Kong will bid on its own for the BG assets, a 540-km pipeline which will carry coal seam gas from the Surat Basin to a processing plant on Curtis Island. Bankers are looking at valuations around $3bn for assets, which relate to BG's Queensland Curtis Island liquefied natural gas (QCLNG) project but does not include water assets. MORE