Good evening,

Origin Energy’s silence was the main talking point in deals on Thursday, as the company chose to say nothing about our report that Brookfield and EIG Partners were trying to negotiate a price-cut.

The last time Street Talk saw these tactics was at Ramsay Health Care, where Ramsay kept quiet on how the deal price and/or structure was changing throughout KKR’s six months due diligence, only for the whole deal to ingloriously fall in a heap come September.

At Origin, there’s clearly a disconnect between target and suitor. For Origin, recent changes and improvements in its operating business have seen it increase FY23 guidance, while Brookfield and EIG Partners worry about the longer-term impacts of price caps and other regulatory intervention.

In Origin’s eyes - and in the eyes of anyone looking at FY23 numbers - the company’s value has gone up, not down.

In Brookfield/EIG’s eyes, the added uncertainty is added risk, which means a lower price.

So, we will watch with interest as the situation unfolds in coming weeks. What we do know is that $9 is not the price in Brookfield/EIG’s heads, or on their lips, right now.

In Street Talk tomorrow, we have another asset sale out of South Africa’s Murray & Roberts, soon after it lost control of contractor Clough.

We also have news on ANZ’s former online real estate play, and have a new PE investment out of Brisbane’s Fortitude.

Happy reading,

Anthony Macdonald, Sarah Thompson and Kanika Sood

Street Talk Editors