SYDNEY, AAP – Power company AGL Energy is the target of an $8 billion takeover bid from Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian investment firm Brookfield.
The predators are offering $7.50 per share, according to multiple media reports.
The AGL board is believed to have met on the weekend to consider the surprise offer and are expected to respond on Monday.
The proposed offer, which was first revealed by The Australian Financial Review, represents a more than four per cent premium to AGL’s closing share price on Friday of $7.16 and includes debt.
The bid comes more than 10 days after AGL posted its 2021/22 first-half results and confirmed it was bringing forward the closure of two coal-fired power stations under a demerger plan.
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AGL has plans to split into two listed entities – energy retailer AGL Australia and electricity generator Accel Energy – by June 30.
The two entities have been assigned emissions reductions targets, putting them on course to reach net zero in coming decades.
Under the climate goals, Accel Energy will bring forward the closure of the Loy Yang A power station in Victoria to 2045, from 2048.
It will also close the Bayswater power station in the NSW Hunter region by 2033, from 2035 previously.
AGL’s bottom line first-half net profit came in at $555 million, after last year’s result was hit by significant one-off items resulting in a more than $2 billion loss.
