Cat-and-mouse game seen in bid for CAT oil

Petro Welt Technologies AG

05/11/2014 15:53

VIENNA, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Austrian fracking specialist CAT 
oil  O2C.DE  appealed to a little known offshore bidder to 
reveal its intentions and strategy for the German-listed group, 
showing how investors can cloak their identities and make bids 
difficult to assess. 
    British Virgin Islands-based Joma Industrial Source said 
last week it had amassed an indirect 47.7 percent voting stake 
in CAT oil and would make a mandatory cash offer to other 
shareholders, as required by Austrian law.  ID:nL5N0SQ4U8  
    CAT oil specialises in boosting the productivity of wells 
via hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking". Its operations focus on 
Russia and Kazakhstan, and its customers include Lukoil 
 LKOH.MM , Rosneft  ROSN.MM  Gazprom  GAZP.MM  and Kazmunaigas 
 RDGZ.KZ . 
    Friday's release said Maurice Gregoire Dijols was among the 
investors who had acquired indirect control via the deal, but it 
was not immediately clear whether this was the same Maurice 
Dijols who was formerly head of oil services company 
Schlumberger Russia. 
    Not much else is clear about Joma, CAT oil said.  
    "The intentions by the asserted new major shareholders are 
in the dark. In the interest of all shareholders of CAT oil AG, 
our customers and employees we again urge Joma Industrial to 
promptly disclose its intentions," Chief Executive Manfred 
Kastner said in a statement on Wednesday. It has yet to get 
answers to queries, he added. 
    As CAT shares rose 2.1 percent to 15.015 euros, it was 
unclear how Joma secured its stake. It could have used a call 
option to secure German tax adviser Walter Hoeft's majority in 
Cyprus-based CAT Holding, which in turn owns nearly 48 percent 
of CAT oil. 
    But CAT oil said Hoeft had asked Joma for evidence that such 
a move had taken place. 
    "The management board has furthermore received confirmation 
by Dr Walter Hoeft that the asserted sale of his stake in CAT 
Holding was not planned by him," the company said. 
     CAT oil said it had learned that Joma also was disputing 
the stake held by Anna Brinkmann, CAT oil's chief operating 
officer and indirect owner of 49.8 percent on CAT Holding. She 
also owns a direct 11 percent stake in CAT oil, it said. 
    Joma has asked a court in Nicosia to dissolve one of her 
investment vehicles, CAT oil said, adding Brinkmann would 
"defend her legal interests by exhausting all legal 
possibilities". 
 
 (Reporting by Angelika Gruber and Michael Shields; editing by 
Jane Baird) 
 ((Michael.Shields@thomsonreuters.com; +43 1 531 12 258; Reuters 
Messaging: michael.shields.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: CAT OIL OWNERS/