Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar joins renewables rush with bid for Genex

One of Australia’s richest people has joined several of his peers in making a renewable energy play.

Genex received a takeover offer from an investment firm founded by Australian technology billionaire Scott Farquhar and Stonepeak Partners, the Sydney-based renewable energy developer said Monday.

Skip Capital, an investment firm founded by Kim Jackson and the Atlassian co-founder and co-chief executive officer, and Stonepeak made an indicative purchase price at a 70 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price.

Mr Farquhar’s move bolsters the ranks of Australian billionaires betting on the green energy transition in the nation, one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel exporters and per-capita emitters.

His Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes recently unseated half of AGL Energy’s board as he seeks to move the utility away from coal-fired generation while Andrew Forrest, the nation’s richest man, has vowed to become a major exporter of hydrogen generated using wind and solar.

Genex is one of the few remaining big renewable energy developers listed in Sydney after takeovers of rivals including the multibillion-dollar sale of Tilt Renewables last year. The venture between Skip and Stonepeak offered $0.23 a share for Genex, according to Monday’s statement, valuing the company at $318.6 million.

The Skip Essential Infrastructure Fund has also built up a 19.99 per cent stake in Genex, the group said in its own statement confirming the offer. Shares in the company closed trading last week at $0.135 per share, more than 30 per cent below where it listed in July 2015.

Genex Power’s flagship project is the Kidston Clean Energy Hub, located in the nation’s north, which will integrate large-scale solar generation with pumped storage hydro and wind energy, according to its website. It has 100 megawatts of solar generation in operation and 450 megawatts of hydro, wind and battery generation under construction.

Bloomberg