Latest news with #SteveFeinberg
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
US company linked to Trump administration in talks over Darwin Port lease
An American investment firm linked to US President Donald Trump's administration has shown interest in the Port of Darwin, which is currently leased by a Chinese-owned company. Last month the federal Labor government made an election pledge to bring the port lease "back into Australian hands", but it remains unclear if they would support a bid from another foreign-owned entity. The strategically important northern Australian port has been a hotly debated national security issue since it was leased to Chinese firm Landbridge by the NT government for 99 years in 2015. A representative of New York-based Cerberus Capital Management held meetings in the Northern Territory capital earlier this month, port operator Landbridge has confirmed. Cerberus was co-founded by billionaire Steve Feinberg, who stepped aside from his role as the company's chief executive earlier this year to become the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Trump White House. Landbridge's non-executive director for Australia, Terry O'Connor, told the ABC that a Cerberus representative had met with Darwin Port's management, but had not put in an offer for the asset. "There's certainly been no prices negotiated [for the port], no prices even discussed or raised. "We would see Cerberus's interest as the same level of interest as we've received from multiple other companies who have talked to the port [management] over the past couple of months." Cerberus's website describes the firm as an "established alternative investment advisor with approximately $65 billion in assets" across the globe, including in the military, automotive, real estate and aviation sectors. Cerberus did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication. The ABC has been told by federal sources that negotiations between Cerberus and Darwin Port management were not being facilitated by the Australian government. A spokesperson for the prime minister's office only reaffirmed that the Commonwealth was "working closely with the Northern Territory government on the next steps" for the port. Solomon MP and Special Envoy for Defence and Northern Australia Luke Gosling was asked whether the government would support a US bid and he commented only that it was committed to getting the port back "into Australian hands". NT Treasurer Bill Yan's office did not confirm whether he met with Cerberus representatives while they were in the territory. Mr O'Connor said Landbridge had not had any clear indication of an impending offer from Cerberus. "I just see this as another part of the political football game that we seem to have post-elections and around election time, to be honest," Mr O'Connor said. "Having spoken to the Landbridge representatives in China in the last couple of days, there's been no engagement with them, at all. "They just think it's an Australian political media storm and it will wash over." On Sunday, Australia's Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian posted a statement describing the federal government's pledge for the Darwin Port lease as "ethically questionable" and urged them to reconsider. After the port was leased to Landbridge in 2015, former US president Barack Obama voiced his concern over the deal to then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Business Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Cerberus eyes Chinese firm's Darwin port: report
[CANBERRA] US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is preparing a bid for the strategically important Port of Darwin, currently owned by Chinese firm Landbridge Group, The Australian newspaper reported. Cerberus is readying a proposal to buy the 99-year lease from Landbridge at a price slightly above the A$506 million (S$421 million) the Chinese company paid for it in 2015, the newspaper said late Monday (May 26). Landbridge is possibly open to offers around A$1 billion, The Australian cited an unidentified official as saying. The New York-based company has links to the Trump administration, with co-founder Steve Feinberg appointed to be US deputy defence secretary in March, The Australian reported. It said Cerberus declined to comment on Monday. The decision to lease the Port of Darwin to Landbridge in 2015 was controversial at the time, with then-US president Barack Obama expressing concern. Moves by the centre-left Labor government to bring the port back into Australian hands have ramped up in recent months, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledging during the recent election campaign to potentially nationalise the important asset if a buyer could not be found. China's Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian warned Canberra in a statement released on Sunday to tread carefully in its decision-making around the Port of Darwin lease. BLOOMBERG
South China Morning Post
04-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US hypersonic missiles still not ready for combat use amid China, Russia dominance
Although the Pentagon says it intends to deploy its first hypersonic weapon by September 30, more than three years later than planned, its testing office says the weapon managed by the army has yet to prove it would be effective in combat. Advertisement The army also must show it can produce enough of the highly manoeuvrable missiles before fielding them after the Pentagon invested more than US$12 billion since 2018 attempting to develop, test and deploy hypersonics. Delivering the new missiles will be a major test of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's vow to improve the lethality of US forces, including catching up with a next-generation weapon that Russia already has used in its war on Ukraine and China also has deployed. 'We have to develop hypersonics,' Steve Feinberg, President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy defence secretary, said at his confirmation hearing last week. 'We can't allow the Chinese to be faster than us, both in their weaponry and aircraft.' Lockheed Martin Corp. is the systems integrator for the army's hypersonic weapon. Dubbed the 'Dark Eagle,' it has a reported range of 2,780km (1,725 miles) and consists of a ground-launched missile equipped with a hypersonic glide body and related equipment. A variant will be used by the navy. The Defence Department has said little about how much each missile will cost. Advertisement There's now reason for optimism because the army 'successfully executed a joint test' with the navy in December 'that demonstrated end-to-end performance of the system,' according to a Pentagon statement.
