Origin Energy gives suitor Brookfield more time to review books

(Reuters) - Australia's Origin Energy has extended the exclusivity period for a Brookfield-led consortium to finalise its A$15.5 billion ($10.81 billion) buyout bid, the power producer said on Tuesday.

The exclusivity period has been extended to Jan. 24, upon the consortium's request, Origin said. It is the second extension since the talks were first disclosed.

Origin Energy did not specify a reason for the extension, which sparked concern about the fate of the bid. Its shares fell as much as 3.7% to a low of A$7.37, well below the proposed offer price of A$9 a share.

In December when the exclusivity period was first extended, Origin said Brookfield and its bidding partner, MidOcean Energy, owned by private equity firm EIG, had found no material adverse matters and were working to confirm the offer.

Origin said in November it would back the proposed offer if it went ahead.

RBC analysts said in a note in December that they thought the market had overstated fears the deal might not go ahead and saw low risk of the key regulators - the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - blocking the deal.

They said the bidders should be able to address any potential concerns the competition watchdog might raise about Brookfield already owning other gas and electricity infrastructure assets in Victoria state.

The $10.8 billion deal is set to be one of the biggest private equity-backed buyouts of an Australian company.

($1 = 1.4345 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan in Bengaluru and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Diane Craft and Leslie Adler)