A Canadian pension fund is sweetening its bid for Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, a communications network company with operations in Australia and the United Kingdom. The Australian company's independent directors are supporting the deal.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said Tuesday that it has added another 50 Canadian cents (44 U.S. cents) to the 2.50 Canadian dollars ($2.20) it offered initially for each Macquarie share.
The latest offer is worth just under $1.3 billion.
The fund said uncertainty has started to subside in capital markets, and that it was the right time to raise its offer.
Including amounts used to repay debt, the value of the transaction would be $1.76 billion.
Tyndall Investment Management and Lazard Asset Management, which own enough Macquarie shares together to block the deal, are reported to have wanted the CPP board to raise its offer.
Malcolm Long, chairman of Macquarie's independent board committee, said in a release that the independent directors are delighted that CPP has revised its offer and unanimously recommend that MCG security holders vote in its favor.
The CPP board invests the surpluses generated by premiums paid by employees and employers to the federal Canada Pension Plan, which pays benefits to 17 million Canadians when they retire.
The board operates separately and is managed independently, currently overseeing CA$105.5 billion in assets.
