Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) has announced a further one-week extension to the private capital-led consortium carrying out due diligence on a mega $18.4 billion bid for the company.
The 17 January announcement cast doubt in the market on whether a firm bid will eventuate with Origin’s share price slipping from $7.66 to $7.43 in early trade.
The $9-a-share indicative offer bid was announced on 10 November. The exclusive due diligence period had already been extended once and expired on 16 January.
The bid is being made by a consortium led by Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management. The consortium also includes some Brookfield funds and MidOcean Energy, a liquified natural gas company formed to acquire Origin.
The proposal envisages that Brookfield will ultimately acquire Origin’s energy markets business and MidOcean will acquire its integrated gas business.
In its 17 January announcement, Origin said the consortium had advised that it was working to complete due diligence and had requested extra time to do so.
The exclusivity period will now end on 24 January.