One of the best performers on the Australian share market on Tuesday was the Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT) share price.
The New Zealand-based infrastructure investment company's shares rocketed 21% higher before being hurriedly placed into a trading halt shortly before the market close.
This means the Infratil share price ended the day at a record high of $6.80.
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Why was the Infratil share price rocketing higher?
It appears as though Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) isn't the only company receiving a takeover approach today.
Investors were buying Infratil's shares this afternoon amid reports that one of Australia's leading superannuation funds has made a takeover approach for the dual-listed company.
According to the AFR, AustralianSuper says it has submitted a proposal to acquire all the shares in the dual-listed company.
Australia's largest superannuation fund has tabled an offer of NZ$7.43 a share or NZ$5.37 billion (A$5.09 billion) to acquire the company.
The report advises that AustralianSuper's offer consists of a cash consideration of NZ$5.79 a share and 0.221 of a Trustpower share per Infratil share.
Based on the current Infratil share price of NZ$6.08 (on the NZX), this offer represents a 22.2% premium.
AustralianSuper has apparently said that it would continue to seek engagement with the Infratil board to give its shareholders the opportunity to assess the proposal in full.
What now?
As things stand, Infratil is yet to comment on the takeover approach or confirm its receipt. This is likely to come tomorrow morning before the market reopens.
One thing that is for sure, though, is that AustralianSuper cannot be accused of making an opportunistic approach.
Even prior to today's jump, the Infratil share price was up a sizeable 13.5% since the start of the year and trading within a whisker of its record high.
The superannuation fund appears to see long term value in the company and is prepared to pay a premium to get it.
