SYDNEY, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Australian pension fund AustralianSuper said on Monday it had rejected an "eleventh hour" offer from a Brookfield-led consortium and its partner EIG to drop its opposition to their $10.5 billion bid for Origin Energy and join the takeover.
Australia's largest pension fund reaffirmed its intention to reject the bid at the shareholder meeting on Nov. 23, hours after receiving the consortium's "unsolicited" offer, the fund said in a statement.
"AustralianSuper’s position is unchanged on the upcoming vote ... as we believe the offer remains substantially below our estimate of Origin’s long-term value," a spokesperson said.
AustralianSuper said it was Origin Energy's largest shareholder, but did not specify the size of its stake as it has done in previous releases.
The Australian Financial Review reported late on Monday the fund had raised its stake to 16.5% from 15%. AustralianSuper declined to comment.
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I think it is worthwile writing to your superfund and specifically ask them how their proxy vote is in line with their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy and protection of share holder value. Specific points of the merger that are in conflict with the ESG should go in there.
