QGC Says ‘Yes’ To AGL
Queensland Gas Company shareholders have emerged big winners from a series of takeover offers which boosted the value of their investment, doing what a host of investment and institutional analysts couldn’t see: expose the company’s rapidly growing value.
QGC shareholders accepted a revised and better partial offer from AGL Energy on Friday, shortly before a meeting of shareholders in Brisbane was due to vote on the original offer.
The meeting’s outcome had been complicated Wednesday by a last minute offer worth $812 million from US-based investor, TWC (part of the Societie Generale Banking group of Europe).
That came Wednesday, on Thursday QGC slipped out a statement revealing the upward revaluation of its gas reserves by 25 per cent and then late Thursday AGL Energy increased its offer with a letter to the company which was then released Friday morning.
Wonderful timing you might say but in any case the deal has seen QGC shareholders retain their company, at the cost of acquiring a major shareholder. But more importantly they have a very big gas supply contract with AGL.
AGL’s new offer is worth $1.60 a share, up 16c from the original $1.44 a share. That will give it a 27.5 per cent stake after a buyback of 14.7 per cent of its capital by the company at $1.52 a share.
This will cost AGL $327 million.
AGL’s deal is summarized:
1. Acquiring 204.3 million QGC shares at $1.60 per share.
