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Foreign bids surge for Australian companies

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2024-03-04

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Foreign bids for Australian companies continue to surge, with significant offers on the table. Saint-Gobain has bid $4.3 billion for CSR, while Japan's Renesas proposes $9.1 billion for Altium. Additionally, there's a $US1.6 billion Indonesian-Australian offer for Illawarra Coal.

Among these bids, Electric Power Development (J-Power), one of Japan’s largest energy utilities, has put forth a smaller $381 million bid to acquire Queensland renewables developer Genex Power.

This bid comes after Altassian’s Scott Farquhar’s Skip Capital and Stonehaven Partners withdrew their $346 million offer for Genex, which was deemed undervalued by the company.

However, Genex now faces another bid, this time from J-Power, after rejecting their initial 24 cents a share offer. The latest bid at 27.5 cents a share has caused Genex shares to surge 38% as investors anticipate a potential bidding war.

J-Power has proposed to acquire all remaining shares of Genex for 27.5 cents per share, representing a significant premium. To safeguard against potential obstacles, including shareholder acceptance, J-Power has structured an off-market offer with a minimum acceptance condition.

Genex's board has engaged in negotiations with J-Power and expressed readiness to accept the offer if it becomes binding, signaling a potential shift in the company's ownership.

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