A leading alternative asset manager has lobbed an $18.4 billion tentative takeover offer for Origin Energy.
Brookfield Asset Management and an LNG company have floated a figure of $9 a share, a 54.9 per cent premium on Wednesday's closing price of $5.81.
At 10.45am AEDT, Origin shares had soared 32.9 per cent to $7.73.
Origin's board said it had entered into an exclusivity and confidentiality agreement to let the consortium conduct due diligence, expected to finish within eight weeks.
Should a binding offer of $9 per share materialise, the board intends to unanimously recommend shareholders accept it.
"While the due diligence process advances, we will remain focused on the successful execution of our strategy," said Origin Energy chairman Scott Perkins.
Should the takeover proceed, the consortium intends that Brookfield - one of the world's biggest alternative investment management companies - would acquire Origin's energy markets business.
MidOcean Energy, an LNG company created and managed by private equity firm EIG, would take over Origin's integrated gas business, which includes gas fields and a share of the Australia Pacific LNG joint venture export project in Queensland.
