PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Energy investor Harbour Energy has made a A$13.5-billion offer for oil and gas major Santos, offering shareholders $4.98 a share, or A$6.50 equivalent.
Harbour has previously made three unsolicited offers for Santos, the last of which was priced at A$6.37 a share.
The suitor pointed out to Santos shareholders on Tuesday that the new offer represented a premium of 28% to Santos’ last closing price on March 29 and a 30% premium to the one-month volume-weighted average price of the company’s shares.The indicative price comprises a cash offer of $4.70 a share, equal to A$6.13 a share, and a special dividend of $0.28 a share, or A$0.37 a share, which was expected to be fully franked.
Santos’ share price surged on the offer, trading 16% higher at A$5.90 a share by 16:00 in Sydney.
Santos said that the board had formed a committee, which included the company’s chairperson, MD and chair of each of the standing committees, to consider the offer from Harbour.
The ASX-listed company noted that based on the indicative price of A$6.50 a share, it was in the interest of shareholders that Santos continued to engage further with Harbour. However, shareholders have been told to hold off on taking any action.
The Harbour offer was subject to a number of conditions, including a minimum 15% of existing Santos shares outstanding rolling over into unlisted shares of a special purpose company that will remain invested in Santos, entry into binding debt financing commitments, regulatory approvals, and shareholder and board approvals.
Harbour is an energy investment vehicle formed by EIG Global Energy Partners to pursue control and near control investments in high-quality upstream and midstream energy assets globally. Harbour is externally managed by EIG.
EIG specialises in private investments in energy and energy-related infrastructure.