Medco Energi bids for Novus
MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- PT Medco Energi International Tbk, made an unsolicited A$326 million ($241 million) bid for Australia's Novus Petroleum Ltd on Monday.
Medco, Indonesia's largest listed oil and gas company, which said Novus's predominantly Indonesian-based group of assets complemented its own, said it was offering A$1.74 a share in cash, a 35 percent premium to Novus's A$1.29 close on Friday.
Novus's shares soared after the announcement and were trading up 39.53 percent at A$1.80 in late trade. Medco rose 3.85 percent to 1,350 rupiah.
The Australian junior oil and gas producer said it had not received a copy of Medco's bidder statement and urged shareholders not to take any immediate action.
"...and it is immediately clear that the offer does not take into account the underlying value of the company," Novus said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Asked whether Novus would be willing to consider a higher price, Chief Executive Officer Bob Williams told Reuters: "I don't think you can say that. We are still gathering information."
Medco, which has a market capitalization of around $510 million, said the acquisition would be a logical extension to its operations scattered across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North America.
"The Novus assets are attractive to us as they expand our interest in Indonesia and give us the potential for geographic diversification of our asset base," Hilmi Panigoro, Medco Energi's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Caught by surprise
Simon Oaten, energy analyst at Paterson Ord Minnett, said Medco's bid caught the market by surprise, adding he did not expect it would trigger a flurry of offers for the assets.
"This is just speculation on my part but perhaps Santos (might be a potential buyer). I can't think of another natural buyer for Novus," Oaten said.
Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd last month sold its operating interests in two Indonesian gas fields on Sumatra island so it could focus on its other projects in the archipelago.
Williams said around a quarter of Novus's reserves were in Indonesia, a third in the United States and the rest in the Middle East and Australia.
Novus's total annual production was around 10 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), against a peak of 8.2 million boe around five years ago. Around two thirds of its production comes from gas and the balance from oil, he said.
Medco said it had significant cash reserves allowing it to fully fund the acquisition and, if successful in its bid, its near-term goal would be to "broadly maintain" Novus's asset portfolio, including existing employees.
Medco is 85-percent-owned by New Links, which is in turn owned by three shareholders: the Panigoro family, Thai upstream oil and gas firm PTT Exploration and Production PCL and Credit Suisse First Boston
Novus posted a full-year net loss in 2002 of A$33.97 million after hefty exploration write-downs.
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