Good Energy has doubled down on its rejection of Ecotricity’s offer following the latter setting out the full terms and conditions.
Having made a cash offer of 340p per Good Energy share in July, Ecotricity has now sent the offer document to Good Energy’s shareholders. The offer is to initially be open for acceptance until 1:00pm on 10 October 2021, although this could be brought forward.
Good Energy’s board, however, is strongly advising its shareholders to take no action.
“The board firmly rejects this highly opportunistic and hostile offer and does not agree that the takeover of Good Energy by a loss-making competitor would help the company compete more effectively in the energy market,” said Will Whitehorn, chair of Good Energy.
This echoes previous comments made in 2017, when Ecotricity founder Dale Vince launched a bid to appoint himself to the board of Good Energy as a non-executive director. At the time, Good Energy questioned Ecotricity’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure business, the Electric Highway, following the supplier losing “hundreds of thousands of pounds a year” from the network. However, earlier this year the Electric Highway was sold on to GRIDSERVE.
Hitting back, Ecotricity has criticised the financial performance of Good Energy. In its announcement of the offer it said that the Good Energy’s financial performance has deteriorated over the past three years and that it “does not have an effective plan for this competitive market and is in decline as a result”.
Ecotricity made three indicative offers to Good Energy prior to its cash offer, all three of which were rejected by Good Energy’s board.
Whitehorn continued that a takeover by Ecotricity would “deprive investors of the opportunity to support, and benefit from, Good Energy’s future growth”.
“It would place the collective interests of our investors and customers in combatting the climate crisis into the hands of one individual,” he said.
Current± has approached Ecotricity for comment.
