IFM in $8bn swoop on Spanish power giant Naturgy
IFM Investors makes blockbuster $8bn cash offer for a stake in Spanish power and renewable operator Naturgy Energy.
IFM Investors has made a blockbuster $8bn cash offer for a stake in Spanish power and renewable operator Naturgy Energy which plans to double its clean energy capacity in Australia.
The $150bn investment giant owned by Australian pension funds has bid €23 per share in cash for a 22.7 per cent stake in Naturgy, valuing its offer at €5.06bn or $8bn.
The share buyout has been made through IFM’s Global Infrastructure Fund and will be financed through equity from its fund investors and a separate debt facility.
“As one of the largest infrastructure investment managers globally, IFM’s purpose is to protect and grow the long-term retirement savings of working people,” IFM said in a statement.
“IFM is also committed to environmental sustainability, demonstrated most recently by our announcement that we will reduce carbon emissions across our asset classes, targeting net zero by 2050.”
Naturgy runs an international electricity generation unit called GPG, part owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority, which owns 700 megawatts of renewable capacity in Australia and counts itself as the nation’s second largest independent wind energy producer.
The Madrid-based renewables player has a project pipeline of more than 600MW in Australia and in December outlined a plan to become one of the main independent renewable operators in the country by 2023, reaching a total capacity of more than 1300MW.
IFM’s offer price is pitched at a 19.7 per cent premium on Naturgy’s trading price at the closing of the stock exchange on Monday and 22.7 per cent on the volume weighted average trading price of Naturgy’s shares during the last three months.
However, Naturgy’s major shareholders GIP and Rioja Acquisition which control 41 per cent of the company ruled out accepting the offer.
The bid is subject to IFM reaching a minimum acceptance level of 17 per cent of Naturgy’s shares.
IFM was beaten in December to buy energy giant Shell’s Queensland LNG infrastructure for $US2.5bn ($3.3bn) by US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners.
It scooped up a controlling stake in a €2bn ($3.3bn) Italian toll-road in June as it targets expansion in Europe with the deal struck through its Madrid based infrastructure arm Aleatica which owns toll roads, ports and an airport spread through Spain and Latin America.
Naturgy’s shares jumped over 15 per cent to $22.22 in early trading.