Origin / AWE article - FYI

• Street Talk
• May 16 2016 at 12:15 AM
• Updated May 16 2016 at 12:15 AM

by

• Sarah Thompson
• Anthony Macdonald
• Joyce Moullakis

AWE, Mitsui in joint bid; GenesisCare sale documents sent
Oil and gas player AWE has teamed up with Japanese giant Mitsui, its partner in the Casino gas project in Victoria, to form what is expected to be a strong bid team for Origin Energy's stake in its Perth Basin gas venture, Street Talk can reveal.

Final bids are due in three weeks for Origin's 50 per cent stake which Transerv Energy has already confirmed its interest in.

This column can also reveal that Quadrant Energy, which acquired the former Apache Australia business in Western Australia last year, is participating in the auction. Quadrant, backed by Brookfield Infrastructure and Macquarie Capital, would add the interest to its already leading domestic gas business in WA.

Mitsui and AWE are longstanding allies, having been former partners in the Tui oil field in New Zealand and also in a European acquisition scouting venture. The combination pairs together AWE - the existing operator of the Perth Basin venture - with a giant Japanese trader with the financial firepower to fund the full development of the promising Waitsia gas project.

In terms of price, Origin's adviser UBS is spruiking $300 million, while those in the data room say between $150 million and $200 million is more realistic.

The move comes as AWE itself has attracted an unsolicited $421 million cash takeover proposal from US private equity fund Lone Star that has been rejected by AWE and advisor UBS.

Interestingly, Lone Star has spent time in the Origin Energy data room as has Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which snapped up another former AWE partner ROC Oil in 2014.

Origin has also been seeking to sell its stake in the Santos-operated Cooper Basin venture but that process has stalled


Mitsui has previously worked with Rothschild which steered it into Santos' Kipper gas field, off the coast of Victoria, in November 2015. Mitsui's local subsidiary, Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd, struck a deal with Santos to acquire the 35 per cent interest for $520 million.