Activists call AusSuper ‘climate blocker’ for opposing Origin bid

afr.com:

Origin Energy’s biggest shareholder, AustralianSuper, has been described as “the worst climate blocker since Clive Palmer” after the fund resolved to reject a near-$20 billion takeover bid for the electricity and gas supplier.

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has compared AustralianSuper’s position on the takeover offer from Brookfield and EIG to Mr Palmer’s successful efforts to abolish Australia’s emissions trading system.

Brookfield’s Asia-Pacific head, Stewart Upson, is urging Origin shareholders to accept the sweetened offer. Natalie Boog

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the group said that by blocking Brookfield’s promised investment in clean energy of up to $30 billion, the fund was “playing the dirty side of the energy transition”, and called on it to “get out of the way”. AustralianSuper, which says the offer remains “substantially below” its estimate of Origin’s value, declined to comment.

Canada’s Brookfield has pledged to invest between $20 billion and $30 billion in clean energy and storage through Origin’s assets if the deal completes, a figure that dwarfs Origin’s capex commitment in the area if it remains a standalone company. In approving the transaction, the competition regulator determined that the takeover would accelerate Australia’s energy transition and emissions reductions, a public benefit that it said outweighed the negative impact to competition that would result.

But AustralianSuper’s rejection of the cash takeover bid for Origin makes it very difficult for the bidders to secure the 75 per cent shareholder approval they need at the November 23 vote to complete the deal.

Brookfield and EIG, a Washington DC-headquartered fund, last week raised their agreed offer for Origin by 8