Sydney: A consortium led by Hong Kong’s CK Infrastructure Holdings made an unsolicited Aus$13bn (US$9.8bn) bid for gas pipeline company APA yesterday, with the Australian firm agreeing to open its books. APA’s assets include gas transmission pipelines and storage, along with wind and solar farms across Australia. The firm’s website said its 15,000km of gas pipelines connect 1.3 million Australian homes and business.
The Aus$11 per share cash offer was a 33% premium to the company’s Aus$8.27 closing price on Tuesday, with the stock soaring 20.92% to finish at Aus$10.00 yesterday. Chairman Michael Fraser said it was in shareholders’ interests to engage further and agreed to allow the Hong Kong powerhouse to undertake due diligence.