Gas infrastructure and transportation company APA Group (ASX: APA) just received a $13 billion cash takeover offer.
A Hong Kong-based consortium led by CK Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) and including property developer CK Asset Holdings and utility company Power Assets Holdings offered $11 for each APA stapled security, a 33% premium on yesterday's closing price of $8.27.
The offer also allows APA to pay a distribution not exceeding 24 cents per security for the first half of 2018.
The proposal – at this stage still indicative and non-binding – was hard to ignore, and APA opened up to due diligence on a non-exclusive basis.
Given the strategic nature of gas infrastructure and the fact that CKI already has a presence in the Australian utility market – after buying DUET in 2017 and Envestra in 2014 – the bidders have engaged in preliminary discussions with the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
To get a green light from ACCC, the consortium proposed a divestment package including APA's interests in the Goldfields and Parmelia gas pipelines and in the Mondarra gas storage facility, which would be managed by a standalone management team.
Takeover fever now surrounds APA, pushing the share price up 23% to $10.14
