Macquarie has pulled out of the running to acquire Australia's biggest ports operator, Patrick Corporation, for about A$6.2bn (€3.73bn) following the withdrawal of a "key" partner from the investment consortium.

Macquarie announced last Friday that it was assembling a consortium to bid for Patrick. The bank said at the time that a bid would be contingent on it being able to find partners and on the support of Patrick's board.