SMBC rumoured to be weighing £2 billion Porterbrook takeover

Evening Betavillers - here's a little tale for you to ruminate on over the weekend.

I hear one of Japan's biggest financial institutions may be weighing a £2 billion plus takeover bid for rolling stock giant Porterbrook.

My banking sources have heard (unconfirmed) rumours that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is keen on buying Porterbrook, which has been put up for sale by its shareholders. SMBC declined to comment.

I'm afraid I don't have much more detail than that. If the gossip is well founded, it could pit SMBC against Li Ka-Shing, the Hong Kong-based billionaire.

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, one of Li Ka-Shing's investment vehicles, has been studying the acquisition of Porterbrook - which owns one third of Britain's trains - for several weeks.

Here is a link to The Sunday Times article that revealed CKI's interest in Porterbrook: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/article1422626.ece

I'm told The Sunday Times article is broadly correct and that dealmakers over at Royal Bank of Canada are advising/financing CKI on the potential acquisition of Porterbrook.

I guess its still very early days in the Porterbrook auction process, so I am sure other credible buyers will creep out of the woodwork. Indeed, it's quite possible neither SMBC nor CKI will be successful in getting their hands on their own train set.