$318m bid for developer
ATLASSIAN billionaire Scott Farquhar has joined with private equity to launch a $318m bid for Queensland renewable energy developer Genex Power.
Mr Farquhar’s investment fund Skip Capital, headed by the technology executive’s wife Kim Jackson, has made a 23c a share offer after a sharemarket raid on Friday to build a 19.9 per cent stake.
A consortium of Skip and Us-based investment firm Stonepeak are behind the buyout. Genex is developing the $1bn Kidston Clean Energy Hub in North Queensland and has just reported record revenues from its solar farms at Kidston, 270km northwest of Townsville, and Jemalong in NSW.
The Indicative Proposal is subject to conditions including due diligence and Foreign Investment Review Board approval.
In a statement on Monday, Genex said the board had not yet formed a view on the merits of the unsolicited proposal or any potential further engagement with the consortium.
Genex has appointed Goldman Sachs as its financial adviser and Gilbert + Tobin as its legal adviser over the bid.
Releasing its June quarter results, Genex CEO James Harding said the Kidston Stage 1 Solar Farm and the Jemalong Solar Farm took advantage of the recent surge in wholesale electricity prices to secure record revenues.
Kidston’s revenue for the quarter totalled $4.8m from net generation of 26,334MWH, representing an average price of $182/MWH, while Jemalong’s revenue of $3m from electricity sales and $800,000 from large-scale generation certificates showed an average bundled price of $219/MWH, more than double the previous quarter.
Genex, backed by Japan’s JPower and a $610m loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, started construction on the 250MW Kidston pumped storage hydro project earlier this s year.
The project is creating 900 0 construction jobs.
Mr Harding said under- ground work was continuing g on the project’s Main Access s Tunnel and bulk earthworks s for the Wises Dam.
Genex is also planning the e 50MW/100MWH Boulder- combe battery project near r Rockhampton, a further r 270MW solar development t at Kidston and a 150MW W Kidston Stage 3 Wind Pro- ject.