Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes launches a takeover bid for energy giant AGL

Software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian fund manager Brookfield have teamed up on a bid to acquire Australian power company AGL to accelerate the transition away from coal.

Cannon-Brookes, 42, is a passionate renewable energy advocate who has poured billions of dollars into a string of green projects and pledged an additional $500 million in October to tackle startups. climate change.

A joint offer was made on Saturday for AGL’s entire business, which includes more than 4.5 million retail customers and coal, gas and renewable energy assets.

A board meeting was then held on Sunday before the public announcement on Monday morning.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes (pictured with his wife Annie) wants to buy AGL

AGL stock is currently at a two-decade low, and the offer will pay a 4% premium above the most recent closing price of $7.16 per share, reports The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

The offer will be considered by the board to be an underestimation of the company and will likely not be approved, a source said.

AGL’s fossil fuel power plants are Australia’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, contributing 8% of the nation’s total emissions.

Amid falling share prices and growing investor demand for clean energy, AGL has announced a 2050 target to achieve “net zero” emissions.

The change of ownership to Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes is expected to extend this through 2038 with some thermal power plants closing before then.

The business has said its Baywater plant in NSW will close in 2033 and its Loy Yang plant in Victoria will be up and running in 2045.

But this will still fall short of the goals set forth by the UN.

In a January 15 announcement to the International Council of Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN chief called for phasing out coal in OECD countries by 2030 as a ‘key climate priority’.

Cannon-Brookes has invested in a $30 billion Solar Cable project (pictured) that includes 125m2 of solar panels to be built in the Northern Territory

“Turning this ship around will require tremendous willpower and ingenuity from governments and businesses in every major developed country,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. United Nations António Guterres said.

Cannon-Brookes, Australia’s third-richest person, who made his fortune founding software company Atlassian, previously said it was his ‘night and weekend job’ to help open up a renewable energy revolution.

‘I am very passionate about Australia’s opportunity, Australia’s potential in a decarbonized world. We should be winners in the world of decarbonisation, and we won’t be at the moment,’ he told AFR.

Takeovers from Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes will likely see AGL’s transition from coal power plants (pictured) fast-tracked

He and mining magnate Andrew Forrest have invested in the massive Sun Cable solar farm project, which will export solar energy from the Outback to Singapore.

Brookfield, based in Toronto, is worth more than $690 billion with assets, infrastructure and electricity, including the recent purchase of Victoria’s AusNet grid.

Green energy has become increasingly cheaper to produce as fossil fuels struggle to keep up with the wholesale electricity market, contributing to AGL’s share price plunge.