Origin Energy Ltd. is weighing a delay of the shareholder vote on its A$19 billion ($12.5 billion) takeover bid by Brookfield Asset Management and EIG Global Energy Partners, according to people familiar with the matter.
The board of Australia’s largest energy provider is discussing whether to push back the shareholder vote to review an alternative proposal by the consortium, one of the people said. The vote is scheduled for 2pm Thursday in Sydney.
Trading in Origin shares will be temporarily paused pending an announcement, the Australian Securities Exchange said in a Thursday statement.
Deliberations are ongoing and the vote could still go ahead as scheduled, the people said. The Australian Financial Review earlier reported that a vote could be postponed as the consortium has submitted a revised offer. Representatives for the consortium and Origin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A potential delay on the proceedings could give the Brookfield-led group more time to make its case to other major shareholders after AustralianSuper opposed the deal and vowed to vote it down. The Origin’s biggest holder, which raised its holding to about 16.5% last week, argued the offer price is well below the Sydney-based utility’s long-term value.
Australian rules require a minimum of 75% of participating shareholders to approve a takeover offer. That means 16.5% opposition has usually proved sufficient to block a deal, as typically not all retail investors will cast a ballot.
