“It was a pretty simple decision for the board not to accept what they were putting forward.”
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Mr Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of software developer Atlassian and Australia’s third-richest person, said the board’s proposed demerger would be a “terrible outcome for shareholders, taxpayers, customers, Australia and the planet we all share”.
“The Brookfield-Grok consortium looking to take private and transform AGL is putting our pens down – with great sadness,” he said.
Ahead of a meeting between Van Eck and AGL directors on Monday, Mr Hannah called on the board to continue engaging with the bidding consortium and to open its books. “At the moment, $8.25 is below our calculations, but we do think AGL should open up their books for due diligence,” he said.
Mr Hannah said he was also due to meet with the bidding consortium in the coming days, suggesting its push to take over AGL may not be over yet.
“They are reaching out for engagement … I don’t think anything is over at this stage,” he said. “I think everything is still on the table.”
Mr Hunt said the board had denied requests for due diligence due to the absence of an offer it considered acceptable. “You have to be on the threshold of an acceptable value proposition for shareholders when you grant due diligence or further information,” he said.
He added that he was confident shareholders had gained a better understanding of the value set to be unlocked by AGL’s plans to demerge its coal assets into a new entity called Accel Energy later this year, and had been “extremely unimpressed” with the value of the consortium’s offer, especially following AGL’s “solid” half-year financial result and the ongoing rebound in wholesale electricity prices.
Under AGL’s current timelines, the company does not intend to close its final coal-burning power station until 2045, despite the United Nations escalating pressure for developed countries to phase out the planet-heating fossil fuel from the power mix by 2030 in order to avert catastrophic levels of global warming.
The consortium’s plan to fast-track the closure of AGL’s coal-fired power stations by as early as 2030 has reignited a political debate about the pace of the clean energy transition. AGL and the federal government have argued the grid won’t handle the early closure, warning the shift from fossil fuel-based generation to more weather-dependent renewable energy would cause risks to power supply and household energy bills.
Mr Cannon-Brookes and Brookfield, however, said their proposal was credible, well-funded and would avoid any disruption to consumers.
Key investors in AGL have been privately pressing the board for more than a year to commit to vastly stronger decarbonisation plans including bringing forward the planned closures of its last coal-fired power stations.
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