SYDNEY: Australian natural gas transmission company AusNet Services has agreed to a binding takeover offer from a consortium including Brookfield Asset Management in a deal that values the business at A$10.2bil (US$7.7bil or RM32bil).

       AusNet said its board unanimously supports the A$2.65 (RM8.25) per share offer from the group, which also includes pension funds Sunsuper Pty Ltd, Alberta Investment Management Corp, the Investment Management Corp of Ontario and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. Including debt, the deal is worth A$17.8bil (RM55bil), Ausnet said in a statement yesterday.

       The agreement will further antagonise local rival suitor APA Group, which owns gas pipelines and has been seeking to create a regional champion of gas distribution with a A$9.96bil (RM31bil) offer that was rebuffed. APA appealed to Australia’s takeover panel in September to force its target to entertain the offer by allowing due diligence, which AusNet has closed off under the terms of the new deal.

       “Given that A$2.65 (RM8.25) significantly exceeds the indicative reserve price, the board believes it has a responsibility to convert it into a binding offer while retaining the ability to consider superior proposals. APA didn’t indicate that it would be able to offer a full cash alternative or the value level at which any improvement to its indicative proposal could be made,” AusNet said.

       “APA had been made aware that Brookfield might seek to make a revised proposal and were encouraged to have their best proposal in front of the AusNet Board at all times.”

       A deal for the Melbourne-based utility would add another significant sum to an already busy year for Australian takeovers. — Bloomberg