Queensland Rail has seen enormous investor interest in the planned IPO of freight arm QR National. The Queensland Rail chief Lance Hockridge was addressing a business breakfast in Brisbane when he said that the pre-registration for QR National shares would be closing on Friday.
Mr Hockridge said that despite the public anger over the bid to privatize QR National the sale will eventually be good for the state. The shareholder would benefit greatly from the company's international reputation. He also said that it was a big week for the nation's largest rail business.
QR National Pre-Registration
He told those present that they had a great deal of interaction with potential investors, retail investors of Australia, institutional investors in Australia and overseas. He felt that the enormous extent of interest was related to the fact that it was a great company with a great history and a great reputation.
The Queensland government will retain a stake between 25 to 40 % in QR National when the company is floated. This is one of the entities being sold under the Bligh government's controversial asset sales program. QR National operates across five Australian states at present.