UK's Serica says $197 million bid for Pharos is final
UK's Serica says $197 million bid for Pharos is final Aug 10 (Reuters) - Serica Energy SQZ.L will not be raising its £145.7 million ($196.59 million) proposal for peer oil and gas producer Pharos Energy PHARP.L, the British company said on Monday, days after Israel's Ratio Petroleum RTPTp.TA tabled a higher takeover proposal.
Here are some details on the bidding war for Egypt-focused Pharos:
Financial terms of the Serica Offer, tabled on July 26, are final and will not be increased or improved, Serica said, unless in certain circumstances, including another bid for Pharos.
On Friday, Ratio sweetened its offer for Pharos, valuing its shares at 32.8 pence each, slightly higher than Serica's 32.67 pence each, prompting Pharos' board to unanimously withdraw its recommendation to its shareholders for the Serica offer to instead back Ratio.
"Serica continues to rigorously evaluate a pipeline of opportunities, both in the UK North Sea and other areas in which the Company can successfully deliver its strategy," Serica said on Monday.
The proposals for Pharos come amid high levels of dealmaking among oil companies trying to diversify operations and helped by elevated oil prices since the start of the Iran war in late-February.
On Friday, Kurdistan-focused DNO DNO.OL proposed to buy rival and partner Genel Energy GENL.L, which is separately in pursuit of Capricorn Energy CNE.L.
($1 = 0.7411 pounds)
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
((Prerna.Bedi@thomsonreuters.com; +91 98052 24616;))