Click Energy: How a Successful Challenger Brand Became Part of AGL

Unlike several independent electricity retailers that exited the market due to financial distress, Click Energy followed a very different path. After building one of Australia's largest digital-first energy businesses, the company was acquired by AGL in 2020, marking one of the biggest retail energy acquisitions in recent years. Rather than disappearing because it failed, Click Energy became part of one of Australia's largest electricity retailers as the industry continued to consolidate.

Click Energy was founded in 2006 with the goal of making electricity retailing simpler and more affordable.

The company became one of Australia's first online-focused electricity retailers, encouraging customers to manage their accounts digitally rather than through traditional call centres.

Over the following decade, Click Energy expanded across multiple states within the National Electricity Market (NEM), offering competitive electricity and gas plans while building a reputation as a low-cost challenger to the major retailers.

By 2020, the business supplied more than 215,000 electricity and gas services across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

In August 2020, AGL announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire Click Energy from amaysim for approximately $115 million.

The acquisition formed part of AGL's strategy to expand its customer base, strengthen its digital capabilities and increase its share of Australia's highly competitive retail energy market.

The transaction was completed in September 2020, with Click Energy customers gradually transitioning into the AGL Group while continuing to receive uninterrupted electricity and gas services.

Following the acquisition, Click Energy applied to surrender its electricity and gas retail authorisations. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) approved the applications after being satisfied that appropriate arrangements had been made to transfer customers to AGL.

The retailer's electricity and gas authorisations were officially surrendered on 17 September 2021, bringing the Click Energy brand's independent retail operations to an end.

Click Energy's acquisition by AGL was one of the largest retail energy transactions in Australia in recent years. It removed a well-established digital-first challenger brand from the market while strengthening AGL's position as one of the country's largest electricity retailers.

The deal reflected a broader trend of consolidation in Australia's retail energy market, where major retailers acquire smaller competitors to grow customer numbers, acquire digital capabilities, and increase market share.

Unlike the Retailer of Last Resort transfers seen during retailer failures, this was an orderly, commercially-driven transition where no customer lost supply and accounts were migrated under a planned integration process.

Click Energy's story demonstrates that not every retailer exits the market because it is failing. In highly competitive industries such as electricity retailing, successful challenger brands are often acquired by larger companies looking to expand their customer base, improve technology or strengthen their market position.

For customers, these acquisitions usually result in a seamless transition rather than an interruption to their electricity supply. While the brand name may disappear, customers continue receiving electricity as their accounts are transferred to the acquiring retailer.

Click Energy's acquisition highlights an important trend in Australia's energy market: competition doesn't only occur through pricing. It also occurs through mergers and acquisitions, with larger retailers regularly purchasing smaller competitors to grow their market share, acquire new technology and accelerate customer growth.