Brookfield Asset Management, the global property, power and infrastructure fund manager, today submitted a A$7.3bn (£3.1bn) offer for Australian developer, contractor and fund manager Multiplex
The directors of Australian-listed Multiplex said they supported the A$5.05 a share, all-cash offer and indicated that ‘subject only to receiving an independent expert report that concludes that the offer is both fair and reasonable and there being no superior offer’ they would recommend the offer to shareholders.
Jeff Blidner, managing partner of New York and Toronto-listed Brookfield, said Brookfield had also reached agreement with Multiplex’s founding Roberts family to buy its 25.6% stake at the same price as the other shareholders are being offered. Brookfield already owns 4.2% of Multiplex’s shares.
‘This proposal is the product of a considered and constructive dialogue with the Multiplex board and the result, we believe, is a compelling offer which is in the best interests of all securityholders,’ said Blidner.
The A$5.05 offer price represents a multiple of 20.7 times Multiplex’s net profit for 2006 before the A$204.1m (£87m) write down at Wembley, where Multiplex built the new national stadium.
Blidner said retaining Multiplex’s management team would be a priority for Brookfield: ‘Brookfield views Multiplex as an integral part of its international growth strategy and intends to use Multiplex and its local management team to grow in the regions that Multiplex operates in.’
