KEY POINTS:
BG Group is thought to have lined up a preferred buyer for the 51.4 per cent of Contact Energy owned by takeover target Origin Energy.
British-based BG has made a A$12.9 billion ($16.1b) takeover proposal for Origin Energy, Australia's second biggest electricity and gas retailer.
A source close to BG said there was a plan about who BG would sell the Contact stake to and when it would sell it, the Dominion Post reported today.
But, while a preferred buyer had been identified, a market float of the Contact stake, worth around $2.62b at yesterday's closing share price, was still possible, the source said.
Last week the Takeovers Panel in this country exempted BG from having to make any immediate takeover offer for Contact, but did require BG to make a cash bid for Contact within one month of its offer for Origin becoming unconditional.
BG said that when fixing the proposed price of A$14.70 for the acquisition of Origin shares, it did not attribute any premium to the market price of Contact shares.
That was seen as indicating it was not interested in pursuing full ownership of Contact.
- NZPA
