ASX-listed telecommunications services provider Uniti Group has agreed to be bought by a consortium led by Morrison & Co and Brookfield for A$3.62bn (€2.5bn).
The consortium is made up of the Morrison & Co Infrastructure Partnership, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC), the Australian government public service superannuation fund and Brookfield Australia.
Uniti, which has entered into a scheme implementation deed, said the A$5.00 cash offer implied an equity value, on a 100% fully-diluted basis, of approximately A$3.62bn and an enterprise value of approximately A$3.73bn.
The consortium members did not disclose what their respective shares in Uniti would be after the company is taken over and delisted, but market sources told the media that Brookfield would hold a 50% stake, while the superannuation fund will have a 20% stake and a Morrison-managed fund the remaining 30%.
CSC is an existing investor with Morrison & Co.
Brookfield Infrastructure managing director, Udhay Mathialagan, said that together with Morrison & Co, Brookfield was pleased to have earned the board’s unanimous support and believed that, together, the new owners could help Uniti reach its next stage of development.
Geoff Hutchinson, co-head of Australia & New Zealand for Morrison & Co, said: “As experienced infrastructure managers with an extensive portfolio of digital and telco assets, we are pleased to have entered this scheme implementation deed with Uniti.”
When approached, a spokesperson for the A$60bn CSC said that, at this stage, the fund wasn’t making comment about Uniti.
Uniti Independent non-executive chair, Graeme Barclay, said: “The Uniti board is unanimous in its view that this transaction is in the best interests of Uniti shareholders.
Uniti managing director & CEO, Michael Simmons, said that under its proposed new ownership, Uniti would continue to build upon its now established place as a successful, growing participant in the market for high speed, high quality, fibre access networks.
Last month, Macquarie Asset Management and PSP Investments tried to get into the data room with a A$3.6bn bid after Uniti had committed to giving the Morrison-Brookfield consortium access to conduct due diligence.
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