EIG hits out at AusSuper as Origin takeover battle fires up
Brookfield’s partner in the $20 billion takeover of Origin Energy has warned that AustralianSuper, Origin’s biggest shareholder, risks becoming a minority owner in a listed LNG company by rejecting the bid for the energy utility.
Blair Thomas, chief executive of US firm EIG, argued the industry fund is doing other Origin shareholders a disservice by voting against the 76 per cent premium on offer.
EIG CEO Blair Thomas in Sydney on Monday. Louie Douvis
But he also pointed out that AusSuper risks ending up owning none of the Origin assets it is most interested in because of the way a follow-up takeover offer for the target would be structured if the present deal falls through.
“The shareholders who don’t support the scheme, they need to know that that’s what they end up with,” Mr Thomas said. “They don’t end up with the piece they say they want – they get the other piece.”
The comments from Mr Thomas reflect a further escalation of the campaign being waged by the two North American firms to try to secure the 75 per cent support they need from Origin Energy shareholders, in the face of opposition from AusSuper.
The disputed transaction, now worth $9.53 a share since an 8 per cent increase in the offer price last Thursday, goes before a shareholder vote in Sydney on November 23.
But it is at high risk of failing given the stance taken by AusSuper, which on Monday confirmed it increased its stake in Origin to 15.03 per cent.
“The offer from the consortium remains substantially below our estimate of Origin’s long-term value,” AusSuper reiterated in a statement, while also rejecting speculation it may be in discussions to join the bidding consortium.
Several other institutional investors in Origin have either said they intend
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