Asciano, the Australian-listed ports and rail operator, on Monday night rejected an A$2.9bn cash takeover proposal claiming an unsolicited offer it had received earlier in the day from a team led by TPG Capital and a General Electric-backed fund undervalued its business.

Asciano had earlier said it had received a non-binding offer worth A$4.40 a share from TPG, the US-based buy-out group, working with Global Infrastructure Partners, a joint venture between GE and Credit Suisse, the investment bank.