According to sources, Australia's competition watchdog has said that it will review the IFM-led consortium proposal for the 50-year Port of Melbourne lease contract. The team also includes APG Asset Management and Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would review the acquisition since it could reduce the competition between the ports where IFM is already a stakeholder, including Port Botany and the Port of Brisbane.

The Government of Victoria launched the formal transaction process for the port lease contract in late March (as we reported), after the Parliament voted in favor to tender the port with the 85% of the votes on 10 March 2016.

The Department of Treasury and Finance of the state of Victoria expects to fetch about A$5.3 billion ($4.1 billion) through the sale of the container port.

The Port of Melbourne accounts for up to 35 per cent of Australia's container trade. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself.

Since 1 July 2003, the Port of Melbourne has been managed by the Port of Melbourne Corporation, a statutory corporation created by the State of Victoria.

The port hands almost 2.6 million containers annually with 1000 new motor vehicles per day on average. It counts with 36 commercial berths and 7 kilometers of quayline. Around 3000 ship visits annually the port, which total covers 100,000 hectares waters.