Japanese company J-Power has put in a A$380.9m ($248.7m) bid to fully acquire Australian renewables developer Genex Power.

Genex said in an investor update on Monday that it has received a non-binding, indicative proposal from J-Power to acquire all the company’s ordinary shares for A$0.275 per share. Genex added that the proposed deal also contains an alternative structure, under which J-Power will potentially also make an off-market takeover bid for all of the Genex shares for A$0.270 in cash.

After the announcement, Genex shares surged nearly 38% in early trading on Monday to A$0.255, a three-year high. The A$0.275-per-share offer represents a 48.6% premium on the last close on Friday.

J-Power is a 50% joint development partner of Genex for its Kidston Stage 3 Wind Project and Bulli Creek solar and battery projects in Queensland, Australia.

The Japanese company already holds a 7.72% stake in Genex and previously made an offer to buy the company for A$0.240 per share, Genex said in its statement. J-Power also extended a $35m corporate loan facility to Genex last year, which remained fully drawn at the end of December 2021.

An independent committee of Genex’s board of directors determined the previous offer undervalued the company, but the committee has now unanimously agreed the new offer is in the best interests of its shareholders. The new takeover bid requires a minimum 75% supporting vote from Genex shareholders and approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board.

If this threshold is not met, J-Power will launch its proposed off-market A$0.270 takeover bid, which would only require 50.1% of shareholder backing to go ahead.

The decision to buy Genex comes as the Japanese company looks to boost its domestic and overseas renewable energy assets by 1.5GW over the next two years. As of April 2023, the company held almost 10GW of operational renewable capacity.