Largest shareholder rejects 39;best and final39; bid
Origin shares close 6.6 lower
Brookfield bid was final in absence of a rival offer
If bid fails Brookfield could go offmarket route

SYDNEY, Nov 2 Reuters A Brookfieldled consortium has accused Origin Energy39;s largest shareholder, AustralianSuper, of holding the company hostage after it rejected a sweetened best and final A16.4 billion 10.55 billion takeover offer for Australia39;s biggest energy retailer.

If a shareholder vote fails as a result, Brookfield has also offered a backup plan of an offmarket takeover bid that would require the minimum acceptance of 50.1 of the register, giving it control of the Origin39;s board and business plan even if the nation39;s largest pension plan refuses to accept the offer.

AustralianSuper said on Thursday the consortium39;s A9.53 per share offer, an 8 increase over the previous A8.81 apiece bid, remained substantially below its estimate of Origin39;s longterm value.

They are holding the company hostage, they are standing in the way of other people getting a big cash payment and not having to invest in the energy transition going forward, Luke Edwards, head of Brookfield39;s renewable power and transition for Australia, told Reuters in an interview.

Brookfield is not a bottomless pit of money, we are a financial institution, we have a fiduciary duty to our investors to be good stewards of that capital and allocate that capital appropriately.

AustralianSuper, which said…