Power deal delights Macquarie

By Geoff Senescall

Macquarie New Zealand was jubilant yesterday after months of exhaustive work ended with it zapping competitors to win the Contact Energy cornerstone shareholder process.

"You never know till the final minute whether you have been successful or not," said Macquarie's chairman, Jim McLay, after its client Edison Mission was confirmed as the buyer of a 40 per cent stake in the state-owned asset for $1.2 billion. "We are obviously delighted with the outcome."

Mr McLay dismissed comments that Edison had paid over-the-top to get the asset.

"A lot of time and effort went into making the bid. You can't try to second-guess what your competitors might be doing. Basically, you put your best foot forward. In the end we are happy with the price and think it is a fair one."

Macquarie talked to several contenders for the cornerstone shareholding, including Edison which it had previously worked for in Australia.

"A big part of these processes is teaming up with a committed bidder," Mr McLay said.

Macquarie has been very active in the domestic energy sector, particularly in advising local authorities such as Wellington City Council on the sale of Capital Power to TransAlta, as well as acting for overseas parties looking to invest in energy here.

"Macquarie is in the process of completing several more transactions in the energy sector," Mr McLay said. "We anticipate further merger and acquisition activity particularly in the energy, infrastructure and financial services sectors."