May 2023
Downer EDI lawsuit says AusNet contract at heart of accounting woes
A $600m AusNet Services contract signed in 2019 has been named as the “accounting irregularity” that wiped more than half a billion off Downer’s market cap.
- Jenny Wiggins
April 2023
- Exclusive
- Energy transition
GMR Energy charges ahead with battery pipeline
The battery will support the grid around an area of Victoria where demand fluctuates.
- Colin Packham
March 2022
Brookfield cuts Aussie firm into AusNet, other ‘Super-Core’ assets
Canadian giant Brookfield has chipped off a slice of newly privatised utility AusNet - and it is now being shopped to family offices and high net worth investors.
- Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
February 2022
- Analysis
- Renewables
Why Cannon-Brookes won’t back down on his renewable energy crusade
Mike Cannon-Brookes’ audacious plan to take over AGL Energy came as a big surprise, but with hindsight it was totally in character.
- Paul Smith
November 2021
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Inside Brookfield’s decades-long bet on AusNet
Brookfield sees its acquisition as a long-term bet on Australia’s transition to net zero that will require huge amounts of capital.
- James Thomson
Brookfield upbeat on China-linked AusNet shareholder agreeing to takeover
AusNet Services and its major shareholder have agreed to back Canada’s Brookfield takeover bid.
- Elouise Fowler
October 2021
Brookfield readies ‘Australian Energy Holdings’ class for AusNet
While APA Group hogs the limelight at AusNet Services, it’s easy to forget the poles and wires owner’s sitting on a $17 billion cash bid from Canadian Brookfield.
- Anthony Macdonald, Yolanda Redrup and Kanika Sood
Hostile Ausnet and APA open their books
The takeover target and suitor APA Group have granted each other due diligence as questions arise over whether China will sell its AusNet stake.
- Elouise Fowler
China won’t sell ‘strategic’ AusNet stake
The anticipated unwillingness of China to sell its 20 per cent slice complicates the $17 billion bidding war for AusNet between APA Group and Brookfield.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Phoney war for AusNet takes a nationalistic turn
APA Group is pitching itself as a national champion in the fight for AusNet, as the phoney war ahead of the next round of bids rolls on.
- James Thomson
APA Group plays national interest card in AusNet fight
APA claims it would not be in the national interest for rival bidder Brookfield to snare AusNet, arguing it can create a national energy infrastructure champion.
- James Thomson
AusNet opens books to APA Group
The takeovers panel deemed the eight weeks of exclusive due diligence that AusNet granted its heavyweight Canadian suitor “anti-competitive.”
- Elouise Fowler
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Now the $17b AusNet battle can get really serious
The Takeovers Panel has forced AusNet to engage with APA Group’s bid for the company. The AusNet board won’t be too upset by that.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Regulators circle the $17b battle for AusNet
FIRB and the ACCC look likely to play a role in determining the takeover bid for the energy company – and regulatory hurdles loom.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Power network
AusNet battle could see Takeovers Panel rewrite rules
The rules on if and when target companies are required to provide rival bidders equal access to information could be ripe for change.
- Jason van Grieken
September 2021
APA needles Brookfield as AusNet tussle ramps up
Gas pipeline owner APA has further ratcheted up the tensions with competing AusNet bidder Brookfield, vaunting advantages of its “superior” offer that are rejected by its rival.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
APA Group asks Takeovers Panel to break open AusNet
APA Group has headed to the Takeovers Panel in an effort to get a closer look at takeover target AusNet Services.
- Anthony Macdonald, Yolanda Redrup and Kanika Sood
UniSuper backs APA bid for AusNet
The gas pipeline giant has got strong support for its surprise $9.96 billion takeover bid for AusNet Services from its biggest shareholder despite the “sharp” price.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
May 2021
Federal tax cut to fast-track Ausnet grid projects
Commonwealth tax deductions will fast-track power grid projects but the tight timeframe may exclude VicGrid priority list projects.
- Elouise Fowler
February 2021
CEFC backs Victorian Big Battery with $160m debt
The backing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will support the construction of what will be one of the world’s biggest batteries, to be built near Geelong.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith