Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) has made a $5.6bn offer to buy minority shareholders’ stakes in Dragon Oil in a move to take full ownership of the Dubai-based independent.
ENOC, which already owns 54% of the exploration and production firm, is seeking to obtain the remaining 46%.
The company made a public offer to the independent committee set up after its initial private offer on 13th of May.
The committee which is made up of four non-executive directors of Dragon Oil said they received and are currently considering the offer but ENOC said the independent “had not yet produced the endorsement it believed its “full and fair” bid warranted”, The Telegraph reported.
The Abu Dhabi company added that the offer represented a substantial increase on its opening gambit and it believed it was fit to recommend to shareholders.
“There is great uncertainty in the sector and we believe, as a long term and supportive shareholder, that Dragon Oil has achieved as much as is possible through its existing upstream strategy,” ENOC Chief Executive Saif Al Falasi said in a statement issued shortly before Thursday’s London stock market close.
“Moreover, Dragon Oil stands to benefit significantly from being part of the integrated platform that ENOC offers. To that end, we want to ensure that all of Dragon Oil’s shareholders have the opportunity to evaluate the proposal on its merits.”
ENOC said the buy-out will allow it to consolidate Dragon Oil’s upstream business with its existing downstream segment and become a fully-integrated global oil and gas company.
