The board of ASX-listed Genex Power Ltd (ASX) has rejected a bid by Altasian co-founder Scott Farquhar for undervaluing the business.
Last Monday, Genex’s 19.9 percent stake in a consortium controlled by Skip Capital, a family VC run by Farquhar’s wife Kim Jackson, along with US alternative asset manager Stonepeak Partners, launched a $320 million take on Skip Essentials Infrastructure Fund. At a 23c bid for the stock, a 70% premium to the company’s closing price on July 22.
“After careful consideration of the proposed proposal (including consultation with its advisors), the Genex Board has unanimously concluded that it would devalue Genex and therefore not be of benefit to holders of Genex shares as a whole,” the company said in a statement to the ASX today.
The company has not authorized access to the books for due diligence, but said it is “willing to engage constructively” with the Skip Capital Consortium to come up with a proposal that a revised company board might recommend.
“Despite the consortium’s revised proposal, the board believes Genex has an extremely attractive future as a renewable energy and storage company,” the statement said.
Genex has more than $1 billion worth of renewable energy generation and storage assets, including the five-year Kidston Solar Project, which will generate up to 50 MW of power. The company has developed the Kidston Gold Mine into a 250MW water extraction facility. The state’s renewable energy arm, Arena, has committed $47 million to that project.
Genex also operates the 50MW Jemalong Solar Project at Forbes in western NSW and has an agreement with Tesla for a 50MW battery storage project near Rockhampton, Queensland.
It is the only pure play renewable energy and storage company listed on the ASX.
Its quarterly results through June 30 reported 11-year earnings of $8.6 million, totaling $26.1 million from solar farms, and net operating cash flow reaching $4 million for the first time in a year.
