Qube enters exclusivity deed after Macquarie offers to buy in $7.50 billion deal

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By Adwitiya Srivastava

(Reuters) -Australia’s Qube Holdings entered into an exclusivity deed with a unit of Macquarie Group on Monday after a non-binding takeover proposal that valued the logistics company at A$11.6 billion ($7.50 billion), including debt.

Shares of Qube, Australia’s largest integrated provider of import and export logistics, surged as much as 19.7% to hit an all-time high of A$4.890, far outperforming a 1.1% gain in the benchmark stock index.

The cash offer of A$5.20 per share from Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) represents a 27.8% premium to Qube’s last closing price on Friday.

The deal is subject to conditions including regulatory approvals, due diligence, and Qube delivering a binding scheme implementation agreement before the end of the exclusivity deed on February 1, 2026.

“This proposal highlights the strength of Qube’s assets and operations,” Qube Chairman John Bevan said in a statement.

Each of the Qube directors confirmed they intended to unanimously recommend shareholders vote in favour of any scheme of arrangement for the potential transaction in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent expert review, Qube said.

Analyst at Ord Minnet Research see chances of incremental third-party interest in Qube, given recent global corporate activity by global shipping lines and increased interest in transport assets from global infrastructure funds.

Should the deal proceed, adjustments will apply to the A$5.20 per-share offer to account for any future dividends paid by Qube, the logistics company said.

($1 = 1.5470 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Richard Chang and Subhranshu Sahu)