Emirates National Oil Co. increased its offer to buy Dragon Oil Plc to 800 pence ($12.50) a share, winning support from minority owners including billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Advisors U.K. Ltd. that rejected ENOC’s offer in June.
Elliott and Baillie Gifford & Co., which hold a combined 13.1 stake in Dragon Oil, have accepted the new price, ENOC said in a statement. ENOC had offered to buy the 46 percent of Dragon Oil it didn’t own for 750 pence a share, or 1.7 billion pounds on June 15. The Dubai-based company said it plans to delist Dragon Oil, now valued at 4 billion pounds, from the London and Dublin exchanges.
“We look forward to taking operational control of Dragon Oil and integrating the company into the ENOC Group, moving another step closer towards creating a fully integrated oil and gas company,” Saif Al Falasi, group chief executive of ENOC, said in the statement.
Shares of Dragon Oil rose 1.5 percent to 733 pence on Friday in London. They have gained 44 percent since March 13, the business day before the takeover talks with ENOC were disclosed.-Bloomberg
