Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has said he will seek two candidates on the AGL board if he manages to block the energy giant’s controversial plan to turn its coal-fired power plants into a stand-alone company.
In a letter to AGL President Peter Botten on Friday afternoon, the co-founder of Atlassian reiterated his “unequivocal opposition” to the planned breakdown of AGL’s commercial and power generation divisions, which he believes which will create two smaller entities with less financing capacity accelerated the shutdown of its large-fired coal-fired power plants in accordance with the necessary global climate action.
AGL Energy CEO Graeme Hunt and Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes seek to block an AGL split promoted by Mr. Hunt. Credits: Louise Douvis, Justin McManus, Wolter Peeters
Cannon-Brookes ’investment arm Grok Ventures, which has accumulated an 11.3% stake in AGL, said it was committed to helping and working with the board to“ achieve the immense potential of the company “.
“Therefore, we are looking for two candidates for Grok Ventures on the AGL board,” the letter said. “We intend to liaise directly with you and your fellow AGL directors regarding the renewal of the board and management … to ensure that AGL has the talent, capital, capacity and oversight that are required to take advantage of the opportunity offered by decarbonization. “
Cannon-Brookes, one of Australia’s richest people, has accrued 11.3% interest in AGL and pledged to use its voting rights to fight the split, keep the company whole and move forward its planned exit from coal electricity in 2045 to as early as 2035. In a shareholders’ vote next month, the council’s split proposal requires the support of 75 percent of the value of the shares voted.
Cannon-Brookes, who was not specifically proposed for one of the two board seats he was looking for, encouraged the AGL board to “start preparing for the future of AGL, including the possible outcome that the split does not occur “.
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When contacted on Friday afternoon, AGL said it had just received Grok’s letter and “clearly the president and council needed time to consider the letter before responding.”
AGL’s board, which urges investors to support the split, insists the spin-off will unlock shareholder value by creating a carbon-neutral net retail and energy company known as AGL Australia, which will be able to ‘attracting increasingly distant financial sponsors. themselves from investments in fossil fuels. Meanwhile, independent power generation company Accel Energy will focus on transforming coal sites into energy centers that could also house renewable energy and batteries.