Australia's APA Group climbs to record on $9.81 bln takeover bid

Power Assets Holdings

13/06/2018 02:40

** Shares of gas pipeline company APA Group  APA.AX  rise as
much as 24.43 pct to a record high of A$10.290; stock also marks
record intraday pct gain
    ** Hong Kong's CK Infrastructure Holdings  1038.HK  makes a
A$12.98 bln ($9.81 bln) takeover offer for APA Group
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TE6D8
    ** CK Infrastructure, leading a consortium with CK Asset
Holdings  1113.HK  and Power Assets Holdings  0006.HK , offers
A$11 cash per stapled security
    ** Deal offers a hefty 33 pct premium to APA's last close of
A$8.27
    ** Deal would expand the private Chinese firm's pipeline and
electricity transmission holdings in Australia at a time when
soaring gas and power prices have become a big political issue
    ** Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will
commence public review of the proposed acquisition
    ** To avert competition concerns on the APA bid, CK
Infrastructure has offered to divest all of APA's pipeline
assets in Western Australia
    ** More than 3.7 mln APA Group shares change hands, compared
with 30-day average of 2.2 mln shares 
    ** Stock is the top pct gainer on the benchmark S&P/ASX 200
index  .AXJO  
($1 = 1.3226 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru)
 ((Aditya.Soni@thomsonreuters.com; +91 80 6749 1783; Reuters
Messaging: Aditya.Soni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))