Canada fund bids $930 million for Macquarie Comms

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A Canadian pension fund has offered $930 million for Australian investment firm Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group MCG.AX (MCG), sending MCG shares up more than 50 percent.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said the deal, recommended by Macquarie Communications' board, would give it a diversified portfolio of radio and television transmission assets with strong cash flows at an attractive price.

CPPIB, the fund manager for Canada's state pension plan, offered A$2.50 per stapled MCG security, a 67 percent premium on MCG's closing price on Monday, MCG said in a statement.

Shares in MCG, part of the Macquarie Group (MQG.AX), surged to a high of A$2.37, and closed up 53 percent at A$2.29. The stock has traded as high as A$4.85 in the past year.

The offer comes amid speculation over the health of Macquarie Group's debt-funded investment model, which has come under pressure after the global credit crisis cut access to funding, hammered asset values and slowed economic growth.

APPROVALS

Dealers said the current Macquarie Communications share price, still 8 percent below the offer price, reflected some degree of doubt about whether the deal would go through.

"There's probably a bit of that, there's a few conditions attached to it, and there's always going to be some doubt attached to anything like this," said Will Seddon, investment analyst at Whire Funds Management.

The deal still needs approval from shareholders, key customers, the UK regulator and Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, MCG said in the statement.

Shares in Macquarie Group, which has been selling other assets, closed up 8.2 percent at A$27.05. Other infrastructure shares also rose on hopes of more deals coming through in the future.

Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF.AX) rose 11.8 percent, Macquarie Infrastructure (MIG.AX) rose 9.7 percent and Macquarie Airports (MAP.AX) was up 6.1 percent.

MCG owns and operates networks of broadcast infrastructure in Australia, Britain and the United States, including Broadcast Australia, Britain's Arqiva broadcast tower operations and Airwave, which runs emergency services transmissions in the UK.

Last year, CPPIB had a $1 billion bid for a stake in Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIA.NZ) rejected by New Zealand's government, which said the offer for the country's main international gateway would not benefit the country.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)

($1=1.473 Australian Dollar, 1.784 New Zealand Dollar)