Tilt Renewables' largest shareholders make USD-137m buyout bid

The two largest shareholders of Tilt Renewables Ltd (NZE:TLT) today announced their intention to fully take over the Australasian power producer for a total of NZD 208.5 million (USD 136.6m/EUR 120.7m).

New Zealand utility infrastructure investor Infratil Ltd (NZE:IFT), which holds 51.04% of Tilt Renewables’ shares, and Mercury NZ Ltd (NZE:MCY), with a recently-acquired 19.99% stake in the firm, are offering to buy the rest of the shares at NZD 2.30 apiece. This is a premium of 24.3% to the closing share price of Tilt Renewables on May 11, 2018, a day before Mercury bought its current interest in the target at the same price.

Taking into consideration an option held by Mercury over an additional 6.81% stake in Tilt Renewables, the two bidders have secured a combined 77.84% interest in the target.

The transaction needs the green light from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). Infratil said in a statement that it plans to fund the takeover offer along with any near-term Tilt Renewables development projects with existing cash and debt facilities.

Tilt Renewables has eight wind farms with a combined capacity of 637 MW, giving it a roughly 11% share of Australasia’s total installed wind capacity. The company also has a development pipeline that exceeds 1,600 MW of planning approved wind, solar and storage projects.

Recently, the firm submitted a bid to sell output from the 336-MW Dundonnell wind park in Western Victoria to the local government.

(NZD 1.0 = USD 0.655/EUR 0.579)

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