Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) has entered into an agreement to acquire WINconnect, currently majority owned by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP), for $42.4 million.
As part of the transaction, Origin has also agreed to certain amendments to its Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Intellihub, also majority-owned by PEP, under which Intellihub provides metering services to Origin. The amendments to the MSA include an increase in meter volumes. In addition, Intellihub will acquire both Origin’s and WINconnect’s electricity embedded network meters.
The transactions are interconditional with an equity refinancing concurrently being undertaken by Intellihub.
Once completed, the acquisition will add 87,000 embedded electricity network and serviced hot water customers to Origin with a pipeline of 36,000 further contracted apartments, said Origin.
“The acquisition of WINconnect is a strong fit for Origin, aligning to our retail strategy to expand our existing presence in the embedded networks market,” said Origin CEO Frank Calabria.
“Since 2018, Origin’s CES business has experienced strong growth with customer accounts increasing by 78 per cent.
“This transaction allows us to add considerable scale to our customer base, while providing further upside potential through the sale of a broader suite of behind the meter products and services to CES customers.”
The transactions are subject to Foreign Investment Review Board and New Zealand Overseas Investment Office approvals. Completion is expected before next June 30.
Shares in Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) are trading 1.2 per cent lower at $5.04.
