AustralianSuper, Australia’s largest superannuation fund, is proposing to acquire listed infrastructure investor Infratil for NZ$5.37bn (€3.12bn).
The A$190bn (€114.5bn) AustralianSuper said it was offering NZ$7.43 a share for all shares in Infratil, which is listed both on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges.
Its offer included a cash consideration of NZ$5.70 a share and 0.221 of Trustpower share per Infratil share. Trustpower is a New Zealand energy company.
AustralianSuper said its cash offer represents a 39.2% premium to its closing price on 4 December NZ$4.16
AustralianSuper head of infrastructure, Nik Kemp, said the super fund was attracted to Infratil’s high-quality portfolio of infrastructure assets in New Zealand and Australia.
Australasian infrastructure manager, Morrison and Co, founded and listed Infratil in 1994 as a vehicle offering New Zealand investors access to long-term infrastructure investment.
Infratil holds interests in renewable energy, airport, transport, data centres, social housing and retirement villages.
Kemp said: “As a well capitalised and long term investor, we see significant potential to invest in the growth of Infratil’s assets over the long term on behalf of AustralianSuper’s members, which allows us to provide significant value to Infratil shareholders today.”
“AustralianSuper currently has NZ$1.3bn invested in New Zealand, reflecting our long- term confidence in this market,” he said.
But he said there was no certainty that the proposed scheme or any other transaction would arise.
The A$190bn AustralianSuper is currently has a A$20bn infrastructure portfolio.
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