Oz APA Receives Takeover Bid

Australian gas infrastructure firm APA has received A$13bn ($9.8bn) takeover bid from a consortium led by Hong Kong-based CK Infrastructure Holdings, it said June 13.

CK Infrastructure has offered A$11.00 cash per share, almost 33% more than APA’s last traded price on ASX. The APA board has made no recommendation in response to the proposal at this time and has advised shareholders to take no action at this stage. 

“The APA board will continue to evaluate the proposal and will update APA’s securityholders and the market as appropriate. The board believes APA has a very attractive business and is well positioned to continue delivering strong results and ongoing growth irrespective of whether the proposal proceeds to an offer,” said APA chairman, Michael Fraser.

The CK Infrastructure-led consortium has informed APA that it has had discussions with and provided information to both Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board and the country’s competition watchdog, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

CK Infrastructure already owns Duet Group, which owns the Dampier to Bunbury gas pipeline in Western Australia. To avoid any competition concerns, CK Infrastructure led consortium has proposed a divestment package which would include APA’s interests in the Goldfields Gas Pipeline, Parmelia Gas Pipeline, Mondarra Gas Storage Facility and a standalone management team.  “The proposal is not conditional on these proposed divestments occurring before completion of the transaction,” APA said.

APA is one of Australia’s biggest infrastructure companies and owns 15,000 km of natural gas pipelines across the country.