Brookfield Infrastructure Partners raised its hostile offer for Inter Pipeline Ltd for a second time to about C$8.58 billion ($6.85 billion) as it battles a rival bid from Pembina Pipeline Corp.
Pembina has made an all-stock bid of about C$8.3 billion, while Brookfield had offered C$8.48 billion, with an all-cash option.
Brookfield said on Thursday shareholders can now elect to receive either C$20.00 per share in cash or 0.25 of a Brookfield share for each Inter share. It had previously offered about C$19.50 in all-cash per Inter share, or 0.225 of Brookfield’s Class A share.
The Canadian pipeline operator had recommended that shareholders vote for the offer from Pembina.
The bidding war for Inter’s oil and gas pipelines, mainly in Western Canada, as well as storage facilities and processing plants, comes as North American oil futures have climbed to more that $70 per barrel fueled by a recovery in travel demand from the early pandemic hit.