AGL was in talks to acquire Vocus before EQT Infrastructure's $3.3 billion offer last week, the energy giant confirmed.
AGL responded to a report in the Australian Financial Review this morning, confirming that it had recently approached Vocus with a confidential, non-binding indicative offer and was seeking access to due diligence materials to decide whether to make a binding offer.
The company withdrew its offer though after being unable to agree on due diligence terms.
AGL said in February it was "assessing growth opportunities to meet the needs of increasingly connected customers" through investment opportunities.
AFR's Street Talk said that AGL was running the numbers on Vocus for months, but its ambition to enter the telecommunications market was scuttled after EQT's $3.3 billion was well above what AGL was willing to pay.
EQT offered to buy all of Vocus's shares for $5.25 each in cash, a substantial premium on its current share price which was sitting at $3.89 at the time. Vocus's shares have since climbed to $4.61 immediately after EQT's offer was made public.
EQT's offer is still non-binding at this point as it completes due diligence, and would still require a number of regulatory hurdles and approvals to be passed before an acquisition goes ahead.
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