An Oslo court has rejected a bid from a minority shareholder in DNO International – an Oslo-listed independent with significant interest in Kurdistan – to prevent the company’s merger with RAK Petroleum, a UAE-based company with assets across the Middle East.
The injunction application was widely expect to fail by analysts covering DNO. Teodor Sveen Nilsen from First Securities previously dismissed the suit as “noise” in advance of the merger being completed.
According to a statement on DNO’s website, the Oslo Byfogdembete refused to grant an injunction on Friday to Petrolia Invest AS and Erik J. Frydenbø – both understood to be proxies for ex-DNO Chairman Berge Gerdt Larsen – which if granted would have prevented a merger of RAK’s assets into DNO.
Larsen, via Petrolia, has previously offered to purchase DNO shares in an attempt to prevent the merger. He believes the RAK assets are poor value for money for DNO, an analysis rejected by 77% of DNO’s shareholders who approved the deal on 1 November.
According to DNO the court awarded DNO NOK 1 million ($166,300) in compensation to cover its legal costs. DNO previously described the injunction request as a “frivolous attack.”
The failed injunction bid was thought to be Larsen‘s last hope of preventing the merger, which is due to complete later this month.
