QUBE buys Pilbara trucking business

QUBE Holdings has made further inroads into Western Australia, acquiring Pilbara-based ore haulage business Walmsley Bulk Haulage for $8 million.

Walmsley supplies and services a fleet of BHP Billiton mine site-specified haulage trucks, servicing miners in the Pilbara.

QUBE said the purchase would complement its existing port facilities in Port Hedland.

It marks at least the third purchase by QUBE of WA trucking businesses since early 2012, when it acquired Bunbury's Giacci Group for $119 million.

QUBE followed this up in December last year with the purchase of Canning Vale-based IML Logistics for $16.7 million.

The Sydney-based company recently invested in a new barge transfer facility at Dampier Port underpinned by a contract with Yara Pilbara Nitrates, with construction commencing in August last year.

It also last year signed a contract with oil and gas giant Chevron to provide stevedoring services for barges between Fremantle and Barrow Island.

In addition to the Walmsley purchase, QUBE also today announced the acquisition of Queensland-based bulk haulage company Beaumont Transport for $32 million.

The combined $40 million cost of the two acquisitions were funded from QUBE's existing debt facilities.

It has also formed a joint venture with a subsidiary of Noble Group to develop and operate a major new multi-user grain handling facility at Port Kembla in New South Wales, with QUBE's investment expected to reach $50 million.

The company is aiming to raise up to $200 million through a share placement to institutional investors, with UBS acting as lead manager and underwriter to the placement.

The shares will be issued by way of a variable price bookbuild with an underwritten floor price of $2.12, representing a 4.9 per cent discount to the company's last closing price.

QUBE will also raise up to $30 million through a share purchase plan at the same issue price.