Brookfield sweetens buy offer

NEw OffER • Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP increased its allcash offer Monday for Western Wind Energy Corp. by 10 cents per share to $2.60, but says the deal will only be on the table until Feb. 11.

Brookfield Renewable, a minority shareholder of the alternative energy company, says it already has the support of shareholders with 22 per cent of Western Wind common stock. But the offer is conditional on it receiving at least 50 per cent of the outstanding stock it doesn’t already own.

In July, the company offered $2.50 per share for Western Wind, which was rejected by management.

Last week, Brookfield said it had ended negotiations with the Vancouver-based company.

A day later, Western Wind announced it had formally asked the Ontario Securities Commission to put in place an independent valuator to assess the value of its shares.

“Either Brookfield plays by the rules and obtains a shareholder-supported transaction based on publicly disclosed valuation or our assets will be sold to selected purchasers, who obtain shareholder approval,” said Western Wind CEO Jeff Ciachurski.

The company argues it requires this process because Brookfield’s offer constitutes an “insider” bid, because it currently owns more than 10 per cent of Western Wind’s shares. But Brookfield argues that although it holds common shares, it is an “outsider in all material respects.”

The OSC has yet to respond to the request.