UPDATE 1-Origin Energy’s top shareholder rejects Brookfield’s ‘best and final’ $10.5 bln bid

Pension fund AustralianSuper on Thursday rejected the Brookfield consortium's best and final A$16.40 billion ($10.53 billion) takeover offer for Origin Energy, saying the sweetened offer remained "substantially" below its estimate. The consortium led by Canada's Brookfield, which also includes EIG's MidOcean Energy, is proposing Origin shareholders A$9.53 per share, up from the prior offer of A$8.81 apiece, and a 5.1% premium to the stock's last closing price. "AustralianSuper intends to vote its shares in Origin Energy against the best and final offer from the Brookfield and EIG-backed consortium announced today," the pension fund, which holds the biggest stake in the power producer at 13.68%, said.