Li gets Aussie green light for Duet takeover bid
SYDNEY: Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s A$7.4 billion (RM24.86 billion) takeover bid for power provider Duet Group has won foreign investment approval from the Australian government, paving the way for the Hong Kong tycoon to diversify away from his reliance on Europe.
Treasurer Scott Morrison had no objection to the bid by a consortium led by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, said Duet.
The deal was approved “overwhelmingly” by proxy voters, said chairman Doug Halley at a meeting in Sydney, with 99.3 per cent support.
Duet will give Asia’s third-richest man access to an energy network covering an area three times the size of Hong Kong as Li faces uncertainties in his biggest market, Europe, with a string of elections this year.
The deal is Li’s largest in Australia, where the government last year blocked him from buying a majority stake in power network Ausgrid, citing national security concerns.
Duet’s shares rose 9.8 per cent to A$3.02 at 10.53am, here, compared with the offer of A$3 per share cash and a special dividend of three cents.
Buying Duet will expand Li’s interests in Australia, where he already own stakes in assets including SA Power Networks, Powercor Australia, Australian Gas Networks and CitiPower I Pty Ltd.
Duet’s assets included the Dampier-Bunbury pipeline in Western Australia, a stake in electricity distributor United Energy, gas distribution business Multinet Gas, pipelines business DBP Development Group and Energy Developments Ltd, according to Duet’s website.
The offer by three of Li’s companies — Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd, Cheung Kong Infrastructure and Power Assets Holdings Ltd — was backed by minority investors at shareholder meetings in Hong Kong last month. Bloomberg