The Infratil Ltd (ASX: IFT) share price will be on watch today when it returns from its trading halt.
Yesterday afternoon the New Zealand-based infrastructure investment company's shares rocketed 21% higher before being hurriedly placed into a trading halt.
This followed speculation that Infratil had received a takeover approach from AustralianSuper.
What did Infratil say?
This morning the Infratil board confirmed that it received an initial non-binding, incomplete, indicative and confidential offer from AustralianSuper to acquire the company via a scheme of arrangement.
It first received an offer on 18 October of NZ$6.40 per share, before it was revised higher on Tuesday to NZ$7.43 per share.
Although this represented a 22.2% premium to its last close price, the company rejected the approach. This was on the belief that it materially undervalues Infratil's high quality and unique portfolio of assets on a control basis.
The board also notes that there are material conditions related to Foreign Investment Review Board and Overseas Investment Office approvals in Australia and New Zealand. It feels these conditions and other aspects of the proposal also make it unattractive to shareholders.
The company's Chairman, Mark Tume, commented: "The Board regularly assesses portfolio construction and return expectations. We have had a long and successful track record as active managers of the Infratil platform, and recent examples include the ongoing success of CDC Data Centres, the proposed acquisition of Qscan and the strategic review of Tilt Renewables. As at 8 December 2020, Infratil had delivered total shareholder returns of 18% per annum since listing in 1994 and has a stated annual targeted return for our shareholders of 11%-15% over the long term."
This sentiment was echoed by its Chief Executive, Marko Bogoievski.
He added: "Both proposals were unsolicited and materially undervalue our significant renewable energy and digital infrastructure platforms. We expect some of the additional value to be demonstrated in the near term with the recently announced strategic review of Tilt Renewables, which will continue, and ongoing appreciation of the value of CDC Data Centres."
