Sing Power consortium wins $10b takeover of Aust. energy company

The Straits Times, May 11, 2007


SYDNEY - THE board of Australian energy company Alinta on Friday recommended shareholders accept an A$8 billion (S$10 billion) takeover offer by investment bank Babcock & Brown and Singapore Power, ending a bidding war with Macquarie Bank.

Babcock & Brown's cash and share offer values the group at A$16.06 (S$20.23) a share, Alinta said in a statement.

'The B&B/SP offer delivers outstanding shareholder value, choice for all shareholder groups and a high degree of completion certainty,' Alinta chairman John Akehurst said in a statement.

Shareholders would be sent voting documents in the mail soon, and, if approved, the deal would be completed after a shareholder meeting in August, Alinta said.

Alinta shares rose 1.5 per cent Friday to A$15.41(S$19.41).

Babcock & Brown's consortium is offering shareholders A$8.925 (S$11.245) cash a share. The bid also includes shares in various Babcock & Brown funds.

Perth-based Alinta said Macquarie was offering A$15.80 (S$19.91) cash, along with options for shares in a new fund, Essential Infrastructure Australia, in its revised offer.

'While the board acknowledged that Macquarie had made material improvements ... since its original proposal, the board believed that the B&B proposal offered superior scrip and greater completion certainty,' Alinta said.

Babcock & Brown said it expects to complete the deal by the end of August. -- AP