AustralianSuper launches second Origin Energy raid

AustralianSuper is moving to buy more shares in Origin Energy. Picture: Ian Waldie, Bloomberg

AustralianSuper was amassing more shares in Origin Energy on Monday after the market closed, with sources saying it was lifting its holding to 16.5 per cent.

Already, the country’s largest super fund had purchased just over 1 per cent in the company through Macquarie Capital to take its holding to just under 15 per cent.

It came after AustralianSuper on Monday reiterated its plan to vote against the Brookfield and EIG buyout proposal for Origin Energy on November 23.

The bidders are planning to launch a takeover bid for Origin in the event that the scheme vote does not succeed with a minimum acceptance of 50.1 per cent.

Shares were being purchased at up to $8.95 each through Macquarie Capital.

Origin Energy shares closed on Monday up 1.5 per cent to $8.78.

The situation places further pressure on the suitors to launch a takeover bid, where shares are bought directly on the market, ahead of the vote for the deal, with the larger holding by AustralianSuper making a vote look increasingly harder to get through.

To succeed, there needs to be 75 per cent of voted shares in favour of the offer.

The offer for the scheme of arrangement is $9.53 a share, equating to a market value of $16bn.

A takeover would be more costly from a funding and tax perspective, but the closer it is to the $9.53 per share offer price, the greater chance it has of success.

The plan for Brookfield and EIG was for Brookfield to take Origin’s energy retail business and EIG to take its APLNG gas business.

Should it gain a share of over 50 per cent in the business, it would then hold enough power to push through a break up of the business.

Some had earlier thought that time was running out for AustralianSuper to amass more shares, as any acquisition of more stock to block the vote needed to be carried out by before next week.

Brookfield and EIG are advised by Citi, JPMorgan and UBS on the deal that AustralianSuper believes undervalues the company.

Should the deal faulter, it will mean that there has been more than $30bn worth of major buyout proposals that have faulted within the space of weeks, if you include SQM’s $1.6bn attempt to buy lithium producer Azure Minerals.

That deal looks doubtful now that Gina Rinehart and Chris Ellison have both purchased more than 30 per cent in the company combined and will likely block a buyout.

On Monday, TPG Telecom announced that the Macquarie Group’s Vocus had backed out of a $6.3bn plan to buy its assets after sources said a transaction was all on track as of last week.

It is believed that the increase in funding costs was a factor in the collapse of the acquisition plan

The other buyout that has faltered has been Albemarle’s $6.6bn bid for Liontown Resources, with the suitor walking away after Mrs Rinehart purchased 19.9 per cent in the target.