The deal will see Brookfield acquire 100% of the issued share capital of Asciano for an implied value of $A 9.15 ($US 6.71) per share, valuing Asciano at around $A 8.9bn. To allay the concerns of Australian institutional investors, Brookfield Infrastructure will also be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

"Combining Asciano's Australian container terminals with our existing assets in North America and Europe provides the foundation for a global container platform," says Mr Sam Pollock, Brookfield Infrastructure's CEO. "In addition, Asciano's leading above-rail operations, together with our Australian and Brazilian logistics businesses, create a powerful, international rail logistics business."

The takeover is subject to Australian regulatory approval, although aside from Brookfield's long-term lease of track in Western Australia no other serious concerns have been raised. If Asciano shareholders approve the sale then the deal is expected be completed mid-December.

In its 2015 financial year results released on August 17, Asciano reported revenues of $A 3.84bn, down 3.9% on the previous year, while after-tax net profit was up 41.4% at $A 359.6m. Pacific National accounted for 62.6% of Asciano's total revenues at $A 2.24bn, and 72.1% of Ebitda at $A 846m.

Pacific National coal haulage increased by 2.4% to 162.8 million tonnes, largely due to increased traffic in Queensland where 55 million tonnes was hauled. Pacific National has contracted coal volumes of 180 million tonnes for 2016. Intermodal traffic was down 2.4% at 20.94 billion tonne-km, while steel traffic dropped 1.6% to 2.9 million tonnes.