15th Jun 2015 06:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Emirates National Oil Company Ltd Monday said it has reached a recommended deal to buy Dragon Oil PLC for 750 pence a share in cash, valuing the whole of Dragon at GBP3.7 billion, an improvement on its initial approach.
Emirates, which is owned by the government of Dubai, is already Dragon Oil's majority shareholder, and the offer for the stake it doesn't own is worth about GBP1.7 billion in total. It said its offer is 47.2% above Dragon Oil's share price on March 13, the day before it first approached Dragon Oil.
The company first approached Dragon about a possible acquisition of the stake it didn't already own in March, and last month it put forward a 735 pence a share potential offer.
"Following our announcement on 21st May, outlining a possible cash offer for Dragon Oil, we met with a number of shareholders in order to give them the opportunity to provide feedback. As a direct result of these discussions, we decided to further improve our offer to 750 pence per share, which the Independent Committee at Dragon Oil has recommended," Emirates said Monday.
"The Independent Committee believes that ENOC's cash offer, which is the result of extensive negotiations between the Independent Committee and ENOC, reflects the achievements and future prospects of the Dragon Oil Group and offers Dragon Oil minority shareholders an opportunity to exit at an attractive price," said Thor Haugnaess, chairman of Dragon Oil's Independent Committee on the board.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
DGO.L