(Bloomberg) -- Origin Energy Ltd. will ask investors to vote on a revised A$19.1 billion ($12.5 billion) offer from a Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.-led group next month, postponing a scheduled meeting after proxy results showed the existing proposal would fail.
The utility will hold a new ballot on Dec. 4 on the current A$9.43 takeover offer and if the the deal is rejected, Brookfield and partner EIG Global Energy Partners will pursue an alternative plan to acquire the business in separate parts at a lower price, Origin said Thursday in a statement.
Under the amendments, institutional investors would be given an opportunity to re-invest into Origin's energy generation and retailing business after the unit is sold to Brookfield as part of the existing offer, the target said.
In the event investors vote against the deal, Brookfield has proposed to acquire Origin's energy business for A$12.3 billion and EIG would make a off-market takeover offer for the remaining business, which would comprise of liquefied natural gas assets.
Under that scenario, investors could receive a total payments of as much as A$9.30 a share, Origin said.
Origin's board has “significant reservations as to the complexity, conditionality and differing value, and potential adverse tax outcomes to Origin and shareholders,” of the new proposals, and will assess the plans before offering a view on their merits, the Sydney-based company said.
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Shares in Origin rose as much as 3.6% to A$8.72 in Sydney, the biggest intraday rise since Oct. 10, and traded 1.7% higher as of 1:30 p.m. local time.
The delay to a shareholder vote will give the Brookfield-led group more time to make the case for its revised proposal after AustralianSuper, Origin's top investor, confirmed it would oppose the existing deal and vote it down.
Proxy ballots cast ahead of a meeting that had been scheduled for 2pm Thursday had indicated that the takeover would not receive the required 75% approval from participating shareholders, Origin said.
AustralianSuper, the country's largest pension fund, declined to comment on the revised proposals.
The investor has lifted its holding in Origin in recent weeks to at least 16.5%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. AustralianSuper argued the consortium's proposal was well below the utility's long-term value, and raised concerns about a shortage of opportunities to invest in the nation's energy transition.
(A previous version of this story corrected a currency in the fifth paragraph.)
--With assistance from Amy Bainbridge and Georgina McKay.
(Updates share price in 7th paragraph, adds chart)
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