Harbour comes in with firm bid for Santos shares

After days of media speculation about potential agreements between Harbour Energy and ENN to put in a joint bid for Santos takeover, the Australian LNG player said Harbour put in a revised proposal. 

Under the new binding, conditional proposal, Harbor is looking to acquire 100 percent of Santos shares by the way of a scheme of arrangement for a consideration equivalent to US$4.98 per share, totaling US$10.4 billion.

The revised Harbour proposal involves no change in price and a number of significant changes to the transaction structure previously announced.

Changes include a US dollar offer of cash for shareholders other than ENN and Hony, with no fixed Australian dollar component. In addition, changes include an offer to ENN and Hony to roll-over their existing Santos shares into a Harbour investment vehicle and subscribe for new shares, an option not available to other Santos shareholders.

The revised Harbour proposal is subject to conditions, including completion of final confirmatory due diligence and entry into a scheme implementation deed between Santos and Harbour, which requires the transaction to be recommended by the independent directors of the Santos board and includes, among other things, FIRB and shareholder approval conditions.

Santos noted in its statement that there is no certainty that the revised Harbour proposal will result in an offer for Santos that is capable of being considered by shareholders. Santos shareholders are advised to take no action in relation to the proposal at this time.