SYDNEY, July 20 (Reuters) - Pacific Equity Partners (PEP), Australia's biggest buyout firm, will sell its stake in Energy Developments Ltd ENE.AX to energy investor DUET Group DUE.AX for $1 billion, the parties said, double its 2009 purchase price.
The deal brings PEP's asset divestment programme closer to an end after a busy 2014 in which it sold Griffin's Foods, ice cream maker Peters and cinema chain Hoyts to offshore buyers and listed cleaner-caterer Spotless Group Holdings Ltd SPO.AX and toilet paper maker Asaleo Care Ltd ASH.AX .
DUET, a former Macquarie Group Ltd MQG.AX fund, will pay A$8 per share for renewable energy group Energy Developments, including the part PEP does not control, under the deal supported by the target's board and majority shareholders, the companies said.
PEP-affiliated Greenspark Power Holdings bought Energy Developments for A$431 million ($317.91 million) in 2009 and began selling down its stake in early 2014 for A$5.55 a share, according to media reports. Greenspark now has a two-thirds stake, the companies said.
Energy Developments shares rose 2.5 percent to a record closing high of A$7.91 on Monday, as investors left open the possibility the sale will not go through, while the broader market rose.
DUET said the purchase will give it a more diversified and predictable income stream. The buyer said it plans to raise A$1.67 billion by taking on a cornerstone investor and holding a rights issue, to pay for the deal which also comes with debt.
($1 = 1.3557 Australian dollars)