By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian pension fund AustralianSuper said on Monday it had rejected an unsolicited offer from a Brookfield-led consortium and its partner EIG to maintain an interest in Origin Energy should their $10.5 billion bid for Origin be approved.
Australia’s largest pension fund reaffirmed its intention to vote against the deal come the Nov. 23 shareholder meeting, the fund said in a statement.
“The letter contained an offer for AustralianSuper to engage with the consortium in relation to acquiring interests in Origin should the takeover scheme … be successful,” a spokesperson for AustralianSuper said.
AustralianSuper added it was Origin Energy’s largest shareholder, but did not specify the size of its stake as it has done in previous releases. Its stake was last reported at 15%.
Brookfield and EIG Partners earlier this month offered a “best and final” A$9.53 per share for Origin after raising a previous bid.
Both Brookfield and EIG have previously confirmed they held discussions with AustralianSuper about bringing the fund into the deal earlier this year.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson in Sydney; Editing by Alasdair Pal and Stephen Coates)
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