BG to Post Origin Bid Document as Target Drops Appeal

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- BG Group Plc, the U.K. company offering A$13.8 billion ($13 billion) for Origin Energy Ltd., will mail its formal bid document next week to shareholders after the Australian target dropped a complaint to a regulator.

The offer document will be posted to shareholders starting Aug. 4, Reading, England-based BG said today in an e-mailed statement. Shareholders should ``take no action and ignore all correspondence and contact'' from BG, said Sydney-based Origin, which is seeking to fend off the hostile, all-cash bid.

Origin shares have traded above the A$15.50 a share bid price since the offer was made, signaling investors expect the company to attract a higher price. BG may raise the bid in September once Origin secures an alternative proposal for its coal-seam gas assets, which it says are worth more than the U.K. company is offering, Credit Suisse Group said yesterday.

Origin will release its formal rejection of BG's offer in mid-August, outlining its reasons, the company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.

Origin fell 25 cents, or 1.6 percent, to A$15.85 in Sydney.

The Australian company withdrew an appeal to the national takeovers regulator that sought to block BG sending out the bid document. Origin said that BG addressed each of its 15 objections to wording in the document in amended bid statements released on July 24 and July 30.

``Origin sought these changes to ensure BG's disclosure is not misleading to Origin shareholders,'' it said in the statement.

Origin may be worth between A$18 and A$20 a share, UBS AG said in a July 30 report, adding ``there is a large degree of variability around the value'' of Origin's coal-seam gas resources

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net