Indicative bids for the buyout of Royal North Shore hospital in Sydney are due tomorrow, and among the groups to emerge as potential bidders are Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, InfraRed and Queensland Investment Corporation.
Meanwhile, the National Australia Bank has been drafted in to work as an adviser for Palisade Investment Partners, which is also expected to lob a bid this week.
Hong Kong-based CKI has been tipped as a likely contender for almost $100 billion worth of infrastructure to hit the Australian market this year, and is also believed to be vying for the British Gas-owned pipelines and water treatment plants worth $2bn-$4bn in Queensland.
Palisade, run by Roger Lloyd, was behind the Newcastle Mater Hospital PPP. Previously, The Australian named Capella Capital as an interested party. AMP, for which CIMB has been speculated as the likely adviser, and British-based John Laing have also been flagged as suitors.
RBS has InfraShore, which has a contract through to 2036 to finance, design and redevelop the Royal North Shore through a public-private partnership.
Sources have said they believe the asset is worth about $1bn, but others question whether RBS would achieve so high a price.
Some analysts are suggesting that margins are tighter than expected and there is a complex indexing swap arrangement linked to the debt on the asset.
The process is being handled by Goldman Sachs.
While RBS maintains a presence in Australia through its corporate and institutional banking operations, the financial giant distanced itself from the Australian market in 2012 when it sold its Asia-Pacific investment banking operation to CIMB for $267 million.