Exclusive - Canada's Brookfield to raise Asciano bid: sources

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO) plans to launch a A$9.05 billion (£4.5 billion) counter-offer for Australian port and rail giant Asciano Ltd (AIO.AX) as soon as Thursday, two sources told Reuters.

The Canadian infrastructure investor will increase its bid with sovereign fund the Qatar Investment Authority and Canadian pension fund PSP Investments, added the sources, who were close to the deal but asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Asciano, owner of Australia's largest rail freight network with ports in every state, on Tuesday formally dumped a stand-alone bid from Brookfield worth A$8.9 billion in favour of a A$9 billion offer from Australian port company Qube Holdings Ltd (QUB.AX).

Asciano's change of preference came seven months after it first endorsed Brookfield's cash and scrip offer.

The sources said Brookfield stood by a Feb. 7 letter it wrote to Asciano saying it planned to raise its offer from A$9.10 per share to A$9.28.

Brookfield always intended to allow its original binding offer to lapse by a Feb. 17 deadline so that it could launch a higher cash offer with new partners, they added.

The entry of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund to the Brookfield bid consortium will add a new dimension of scrutiny from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, which must clear any major buyout of an Australian company by offshore interests.

Qube is being advised by UBS and Credit Suisse, while Citi and Barclays is advising Brookfield.

The Canadian company has lined up a A$1.9 billion loan underwritten by ANZ, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank and HSBC.

A Qube spokesman declined comment, while an Asciano spokesman was not immediately available.

(Reporting by Byron Kaye, Swati Pandey and Sharon Klyne; Editing by G Crosse abd Stephen Coates)