According to Yahoo News, a $12.8 billion takeover bid for Origin Energy Ltd. led by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. is expected to be rejected by shareholders during a vote on Monday. The year-long pursuit of the utility by Brookfield and EIG Global Energy Partners has been met with opposition from Origin's largest investor, AustralianSuper, which holds approximately 17% of the company. The pension fund believes the offer is too low and argues that taking the firm private would deny local investors a key opportunity to gain exposure to the energy transition.
The rejection of the transaction could potentially slow down Australia's efforts to accelerate the addition of solar and wind farms as aging coal-fired plants are closed. Brookfield had committed to investing up to $30 billion over 10 years in Origin and to more than triple the utility's planned clean energy generation capacity. However, Origin stated last week that it would not support an alternative transaction suggested by Brookfield, which involved paying $12.3 billion for the target's energy generation and retailing business.
Brookfield, which was previously unsuccessful in acquiring rival utility AGL Energy Ltd., has no immediate plans to make a new proposal. Instead, the fund intends to study the impact of new Australian government policies aimed at accelerating the addition of clean energy generation capacity to replace the country's coal-power fleet.