seven dollars, page-23

Looks like the market has (maybe) spoken. APA is better off without ENV.

Investment analysts have been saying this since mid-2013, some more vocal than others. RBC was critical when APA upped the bid in Dec13. Today in Sydney Morning Herald RBC said an APA counter bid would be too costly and that it should do a buyback with the cash:

"RBC Capital Markets calculates that should APA sell its stake to Cheung Kong, the $790 million of proceeds would open the door to a potential buyback at $7 a share. It said that could lift its valuation of APA by 4 per cent to $7.47 a share and lift free cash flow."

The increased cash flow is worth considering, but I disagree with the buyback because:
(a) APA shares are already fully valued (buybacks should usually occur when sp is undervalued), and
(b) APA has some interesting dotted lines (potential links between existing pipelines) it wants to fill in that would add more longer-term value to shareholders. The $800M would pay for some of these projects.