© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Australian energy company Origin is pictured in Melbourne, Australia, July 3, 2016. Picture taken July 3, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo
By Scott Murdoch and Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Origin Energy, Australia’s biggest energy retailer, will postpone an investor meeting scheduled for Thursday where shareholders were to vote on a A$16.3 billion ($10.61 billion) buyout offer from a Brookfield-led consortium, a source familiar with the matter said.
Trading in Origin Energy shares was paused on Thursday.
Brookfield Corp, which has teamed up with EIG Partner’s MidOcean Energy, and Origin Energy did not respond to requests for comment.
The Brookfield consortium has made a last-minute alternative proposal for the deal, local media AFR reported.
Investors had been widely expected to vote against the current offer after Australian Super, which has a 16.5% stake in Origin, said it would vote no as it believed the offer substantially undervalues the company’s ability to profit from the shift to renewable energy.
Proxy votes were due to be lodged on Tuesday. The deal would be Australia’s second largest buyout in 2023 after Newmont Corp paid $17.8 billion for Newcrest Mining (OTC:).
Origin shares closed on Wednesday at A$8.42, up 1.69%, but well below the offer price of A$9.43 per share.
The Brookfield consortium offered Origin shareholders A$6.59 and $1.86 in cash and a A$0.39 special dividend.
At the time of the new offer on Nov 2, the bid equated to A$9.53 per share, but foreign exchange volatility has pushed that down to the current level.
The subdued share price suggested investors did not believe the deal would go through, according to Jamie Hannah, deputy head of investments and capital markets at VanEck Australia, which voted its 0.3% stake in support of the deal.
“I’m not confident of it going ahead. As much as we’ve voted for it, I don’t know if the numbers stack up. If everyone thought it was going ahead the share price would be higher,” he told Reuters.
Origin shares remain 2.1% lower than last week’s close and have traded well below the offer price since the new bid.
($1 = 1.5366 Australian dollars)
