AWE: MinRes given three days to match Mitsui’s takeover bid

Australian oil and gas producer AWE has given Mineral Resources three days to match Mitsui’s takeover bid.

In what has been described as a bidding war between, CERCG, Mineral Resources, and Mitsui, the Japanese giant a few days ago offered to acquire AWE for of $0.95 per share or $602 million, compared to Mineral Resources $526 million. As for China’s CERCG, AWE has dismissed its offer of $0.73 a share as not attractive enough.

In a statement on Wednesday, AWE, which had previously advised shareholders to accept MinRes offer, said it had sent a notice to MinRes, giving three business days to match the Mitsui Proposal, expiring on Friday 2 February 2018

“If MinRes does not match the Mitsui Proposal within that period, AWE intends to enter into the Mitsui bid implementation deed, and to change its recommendation to a recommendation that AWE shareholders accept the Mitsui takeover bid, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to the independent expert concluding that the Mitsui takeover bid is fair and reasonable,” AWE said.

Until MinRes has had an opportunity to match the Mitsui Proposal, the AWE Directors maintain their existing recommendation in favor of the MinRes scheme proposal, the company added.

AWE has urged  its shareholders to take no action in relation to the Mitsui Proposal or the previously announced China Energy Reserve and Chemical Group Australia Pty Ltd (CERCG) offer until they receive further advice from the AWE Board.

AWE is an independent oil and gas company with offshore and onshore oil and gas operations in the Asia Pacific region. It’s been reported that the interested parties have been particularly in awe of AWE’s large Waitsia gas field near Perth, Australia.

The company has recently confirmed Waitsia as “a world class onshore gas field” with the recent appraisal drilling and “outstanding” flow test results from Waitsia-2, -3 and -4 leading to an 80% increase in gross 2P Reserves to 820 PJ ranking the field in the top five largest gas fields ever discovered onshore Australia.

Offshore Energy Today Staff