Rail Sale Games

["Adam Dunning" <adamdunning@start.com.au>]

Another article from Truck & Bus Tranportation (not Marinus this time
though!)

pg 9, Jully 2001 issue (current)

'Rail sale games'
A split has developed between NSW and the federal government on the sale of
FreightCorp and the National Rail Corporation (NR).

After agreeing last year to a parallel sale of the two companies, the
Federal Government in now being asked to sell the railways jointly -
virtually as a asingle entity.

That move is being strongly resisted by the federal transport department and
its minister, John Anderson, on the grounds that selling NR seperately will
maximise its sale price.

"Because FreightCorp loses so much money, if we sold them together it would
mean that NR would be subsidising FreightCorp," a spokesman for Anderson
said.

The Federal government also believed that selling both railways to a single
buyer would raise questions about whether the resulting company's size
provided it with an unfair competitive advantage.

The NSW government argues that a parallel dale - where bids could be made
for one or both of the companies - could provide FeightCorp's competitors
with access to otherwise commercially sensitive information.

In the event that NR is sold forst, FreightCorp would also be faced with
competition from a new private operator

Adam