News: Australia's Qube Holdings files $6.8 bln joint bid for Asciano

SYDNEY, March 15 (Reuters) - Australia's Qube Holdings Ltd (QUB) said it has joined Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc and international partners to make a A$9.1 billion ($6.8 billion) bid for ports and rail freight company Asciano Ltd (AIO).

The freight handler said in a statement on Tuesday it had terminated a previous stand-alone bid and replaced it with a joint offer with Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority for the Australian firm's port business.

Asciano's rail freight unit would go to China Investment Corp [CIC.UL], the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, British Columbia Investment Management Corp, and U.S. private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners, Qube added.

The Asciano board supported the new bid and would recommend shareholders voted for it, Qube said.

Qube planned to raise A$800 million in an equity raising to pay for the purchase.

($1 = 1.3308 Australian dollars)