The $20bn Origin takeover vote is set to go right down to the wire
With AustralianSuper and Perpetual in the no camp, and proxy advisors and index funds likely voting yes, Thursday's scheme vote on the Brookfield and EIG takeover is on a razor-thin margin.
No matter which way you look at it, Brookfield and EIG’s $20 billion takeover of Origin Energy is on a knife edge.
With retirement savings behemoth AustralianSuper clocking up a 17% shareholding in the energy company by the end of last week and still resolving to vote “no” alongside 2% shareholder Perpetual, the deal will need to have almost unanimous support from other institutions on the share registry.
Morningstar analyst Adrian Atkins estimates that 94% of shareholders who have not publicly voiced their concerns must endorse the deal for it to succeed. That is an awful lot of “yes” votes.
Yet there are a lot of factors pointing to a strong “yes” vote, such as the recently sweetened offer price, the support of independent expert Graeme Samuel and a recommendation in favour from all four of the big proxy advisory firms. Reports have emerged of overseas pension funds, including the CalPERS and CalSTRS funds in the US and Norges Bank have sent proxy votes in favour of the deal.
