Adds company background

By Kane Wu

HONG KONG, May 14 (Reuters) - Brookfield Asset Management BAM.N is set to acquire World Freight Company (WFC) for an enterprise value of about $1.2 billion from investment firms EQT EQTAB.ST and PAI Partners, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The firms have finalised discussions and a deal is expected to be announced as early as Thursday, the sources said.

Brookfield and EQT declined to comment while PAI and WFC did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The planned sale comes amid global transportation volatility as the Iran war has driven up fuel prices and air freight rates, causing serious disruptions in air traffic and shipping routes.

Formed in 2004 in Paris, WFC acts as a general sales and service agent for airlines globally, meaning it has exclusive selling rights of an airline's cargo capacity at agreed terms in a specific territory or region, reducing an airline's costs.

Comprising more than 300 entities across 80 countries, WFC says on its website that its network manages more than 3 million tons of capacity annually for its airline partners.

PAI and Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), which merged into Swedish-headquartered EQT in 2022, bought the cargo freight services provider in 2018 for an undisclosed amount and each owns 50%.

The deal was worth over 600 million euros, Reuters reported at the time.

EQT and PAIsounded out buyer interest for the company in 2021, hoping to fetch more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.73 billion) from a sale, Reuters reported at the time.