Wallenius Wilhelmsen sells Australian RoRo terminal

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Melbourne International RoRo & Auto Terminal Pty Ltd (MIRRAT) to Australian Amalgamated Terminals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qube Holdings Limited, Australia’s largest logistics provider.

The company said the sale is valued at A$332.5m (US$ 220.8m).

The MIRRAT facility spans 187,000 square meters and features three berths dedicated to handling PCC and RoRo vessels. It includes 14,500 car slots and 8,000 square meters of undercover storage. The facility is equipped with two quarantine washbays and a 120-tonne gantry crane.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen plans to continue to utilise MIRRAT following the transaction to make sure its customers are not impacted by the sale.

“MIRRAT has been incredibly successful both commercially and financially, and the sale demonstrates the values created in our logistics business. As we continue to develop our integrated offering to customers, we believe the terminal’s independence and open access can be even better developed under a new and independent ownership. We will continue to be a happy customer of MIRRAT and work with the strong team there,” says Lasse Kristoffersen, President, and CEO at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

“The MIRRAT-team has done a great job, developing the only dedicated roll-on, roll-off terminal, building a robust and customer-centric operation serving multiple shipping lines.”

Wallenius Wilhelmsen reaffirmed its commitment to Australia as a critical market for shipping and logistics customers, adding it was continuously looking for “opportunities to expand its global integrated logistics offering”.

MIRRAT operates on a similar basis to AAT’s other terminals in Port Kembla (NSW) and Fisherman Island (QLD) and is regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) under an Undertaking pursuant to section 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

“As the only dedicated roll-on, roll-off terminal servicing the Victorian market, MIRRAT plays a critical role in the Victorian and national economy,” Qube Managing Director, Paul Digney, said. “This is a business Qube knows well, recognising that MIRRAT shares a common underlying customer base with AAT.”

Qube intends to rebrand the MIRRAT business to the AAT brand following completion.

The acquisition is expected to be earnings per share accretive in FY25 and meet Qube’s ROACE hurdle over the medium term. Completion of the acquisition is conditional on ACCC and Port of Melbourne approval and is expected to complete in early FY25, Qube said.