Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar pulls $346m bid for renewables group

The proposed $346 million takeover of Genex Power by Atlassian chief Scott Farquhar and US private equity firm Stonepeak has been called off, the renewable energy company announced on Wednesday.

In an announcement to the ASX, Genex said that after extended discussions, the consortium had decided to walk away from the 25¢ a share bid which would have taken the company private.

Discussions between billionaire Farquhar’s Skip Essential Infrastructure Fund and the ASX-listed Genex, which has $1 billion of renewable energy assets across Australia, commenced in August, after the company rejected an initial proposal from the consortium, worth $300 million, or 23¢ a share, earlier in the year. Skip is very much a family affair, with Farquhar’s wife, Kim Jackson the group’s chief executive and co-founder. Jackson is the former investment director for infrastructure investment giant Hastings Funds Management.

Genex shares tumbled following the announcement, and falling 22 per cent to 12 cents during Wednesday’s session.

Genex said it had engaged constructively with the consortium during the last four months, and it continued to believe it had compelling prospects.

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“The company remains focused on the continued delivery of the 250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project and the 50MW Bouldercombe Battery Project, alongside its attractive pipeline of growth opportunities.”

Genex’s flagship Kidston Clean Energy Hub in north Queensland, which is looking to integrate large-scale solar generation with pumped storage hydro, is also looking at potential multi-stage wind and solar projects.

However, Genex reported earlier in the year that during construction they had run into an “unexpected geological feature” which resulted in water leaking into one of the tunnels at their Kidston site, and that it would add an additional $10 million to $15 million to the project.