The biggest trade was on Friday night, when Jarden’s share table crossed 86.5 million shares or 6.2 percent of Genex’s issued capital. Alarmingly, it was 23 cents a share or a 70 percent premium to Friday’s close.
Skip Capital is understood to have been the buyer, working in conjunction with its private equity backer. Skip already had an 11.2 percent stake to be Genex Power’s largest shareholder, before last week’s trades.
Genex Power owns the flagship Kidston Clean Energy Hub in North Queensland, which includes solar generation (operational), pumped hydro (under construction) and wind (development) and other solar and battery storage assets in NSW and central Queensland.
The company went public in July 2015 and has Japan’s J-Power as its lead investor.
The takeover interest follows bids for listed renewable energy companies Infigen Energy and Tilt Renewables, both delisted from the ASX boards in the past two years, and a wave of private M&A offers .
A 23ยข offer, in line with Friday night’s buying, would value Genex’s equity at about $320 million. Genex Power also had $260 million in borrowings as of Dec. 31, including senior bank debt and funds from Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
The questions for Genex Power would be whether to grant its suitor due diligence and whether there may be a strategic player willing to take on a consortium with a previous 19.9 percent stake.
For Skip Capital, the Farquhar/Jackson family office, it is the second time it has been seen in an attempt to buy a public company. The last time was when he teamed up with Washington H Soul Pattinson for a tilt at senior care operator Regis Healthcare in late 2020.