Uniti Group’s frantic three-year life on the ASX boards appears to be coming to an end, with infrastructure investor Morrison & Co putting the company in play.
Morrison, a usually rock solid bidder, has secured a four-week look at Uniti’s books with a $4.50 a share or $3 billion bid for the company, as Street Talk revealed on Tuesday.
Uniti Group liked the offer enough to quickly dole out four weeks’ exclusivity, a clear sign there’s a board willing to deal provided it can lock in a bidder at the right price.
Whether that price is $4.50 or more or less remains to be seen. Bankers have had a few months to line up bidders, so we expect there could be another twist or two in the tale yet.
Indeed, it’s been an eventful three years for Uniti, which tanked on listing in February 2019 only to be revived soon after by former Vocus Group/M2 executives Mick Simmons and Vaughan Bowen.
It’s been a frantic deal maker since, acquiring businesses and raising capital, to be a mainstay in small-cap managers’ portfolios across Sydney and Melbourne.
Elsewhere, we reveal PAG’s latest acquisition, and have found an Australian infrastructure investment group that has secured a stake in Brookfield’s AusNet and two other assets.
Happy reading, Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood
Infrastructure investor Morrison & Co’s in talks with some of the country’s biggest superannuation funds to join it in a $3 billion-play for Australian broadband networks owner Uniti Group.
Canadian giant Brookfield has chipped off a slice of newly privatised utility AusNet - and it is now being shopped to family offices and high net worth investors.
Goldman Sachs’ bankers are towing Christian Beck’s legal industry software group back to debt markets, seeking more than $1 billion to refinance the company’s debt.