Ayala affiliate caps offer to take over Australia’s Infigen
By Adam J. Ang
AN AUSTRALIAN affiliate company of Philippine-listed conglomerate Ayala Corp. will no longer outdo the offer of rival bidder Iberdrola, S.A. to acquire Infigen Energy, Ltd.
UAC Energy Holdings, a 75%-owned firm of Ayala-led AC Energy, Inc., will no longer alter its A$0.86-per-security offer and extend the acceptance period beyond July 24, it told Infigen shareholders via its latest supplementary bidder’s statement sent to the Australian Securities Exchange.
To recall, the company’s present offer price was raised by six cents on June 29, signaling a bidding war with Iberdrola, which immediately responded with a revised bid of A$0.89 per security, topping the former’s offer by 3.5%.
UAC Energy said it still may revise its offer before the end of the acceptance period should it receive 5% more tendered shares from its present 13.72% stake at Infigen.
Separately, Infigen maintained its position to reject the Ayala affiliate’s bid, noting the superiority of Iberdrola’s offer.
The Spanish multinational utility last week waived the minimum acceptance condition for its offer, making it wholly unconditional. It is now holding a 24.06% interest at Infigen.
Compared with UAC Energy’s payment term of 10 business days, Iberdrola will pay shareholders within five days upon their acceptance. Its offer period will end on July 30.
Moreover, the two competing bids are already cleared by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
Both firms have pounced on the renewable energy company after its security prices dropped with the fall in power prices in the country.
Iberdrola is one of the biggest energy players in the world having over 55 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in Spain, the United Kingdom, South America, and the United States. It serves around 34 million power consumers worldwide.
Meanwhile, UAC Energy is 75% owned by AC Energy. The remaining 25% is held by UPC\AC Renewables Australia, a joint venture of the Ayala unit and Hong Kong-based UPC Renewables Group.
Ayala Corp. has said that the Infigen investment is a “crucial move” for AC Energy’s regional expansion as it aims to boost its renewables portfolio, filling half of its target 5 GW by 2025.
