Keppel to battle Affinity at WSG | Evol t’s pre-IPO raise | OCP kicks the can down the road

Good evening,

Less than six months after Singapore-listed asset management giant Keppel Infrastructure Trust drove away with Melbourne bus operator Ventura Group for $600 million, its dealmakers are back stalking another Australian asset.

Street Talk understands Keppel is preparing to lob a non-binding indicative bid for garbage collector and consultant Waste Services Group, put up for sale by UK buyout firm Livingbridge with expectations of a billion-dollar exit. Sources said Keppel has powered through WSG’s sale materials and attended the management meetings arranged by sell-side adviser UBS ahead of first-round offers early next month.

The Singaporean will lock horns with Pan-Asian sponsor Affinity Equity Partners, which has mandated Barrenjoey to advise on its bid, as revealed by this column in July. Then there’s the core-plus cohort, with Morrison & Co and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners known to be getting their ducks in a row.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

Body composition scanning business Evolt 360 is eyeing a pre-Christmas initial public offering after launching a funding round, Street Talk understands.

The Australian sharemarket tallied its eighth straight session of gains on Tuesday, as traders continue to unwind the two-day sell-off that pulled the benchmark from a record high earlier this month.

Click here for the latest equity market wrap.