Infratil and Mercury JV satisfy all conditions for Tilt Renewables takeover

Infratil has announced that all conditions to its full cash takeover offer for Tilt Renewables, proposed in a joint venture with Mercury NZ, have been waived or satisfied. The offer is now fully unconditional.

Mercury NZ will now exercise the option it holds to acquire TECT Holdings Limited’s 6.81% shareholding in Tilt Renewables. This brings the two companies' current ownership of Tilt Renewables to 77.881%, as Infratil and Mercury owned 51.04% and 19.99% stakes, respectively, in the company prior to the takeover offer.

Now the offer is unconditional, Tilt Renewables shareholders that accept it will be sent NZD2.30 (US$1.51) cash per share within seven days of receipt of their acceptance. The offer is scheduled to close on 15 October 2018.

Infratil has also responded to Tilt Renewables' statement that its Independent Directors Committee believes that the offer price is too low and should be rejected by shareholders. Infratil has restated that the offer price represents a 24.3% premium to the closing share price of Tilt Renewables before any indication of potential takeover related activity.

Furthermore, the company has argued that the Offer price is higher than all of the broker analyst 12-month price targets and 6.8% higher than the average broker analyst 12-month price target prior to the announcement of the offer. It is also higher than the maximum closing price of Tilt Renewables over the 18 months prior to the announcement.

Infratil has cited the is significantly increased political and regulatory uncertainty in the Australian renewable energy sector at present as a key factor in the value of the offer.