Brookfield-led group nears $2.7-billion Australian firm Uniti takeover

Australian fibre cabling firm Uniti Group  has agreed to a A$3.62 billion ($2.7 billion) takeover by a consortium led by HRL Morrison & Co. and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

The Adelaide-based residential broadband provider said on Thursday it had agreed to a deal at A$5 per share, which represents a 58.7 per cent premium to its undisturbed trading price on March 14. That’s an improvement from an earlier A$4.50 per share offer from the consortium tabled in March.

The group, MBC BidCo, also includes pension fund Commonwealth Superannuation , Uniti said.

The deal marks the second-largest transaction targeting an Australian firm so far this year, behind Blackstone’s A$8.9-billion acquisition of casino operator Crown Resorts. It is also the largest deal for an Australian infrastructure firm in 2022 when real-asset sectors are undergoing a wave of takeovers.