Capricorn Energy plc board has approved a cash offer from Norway’s oldest oil and gas explorer-producer Det Norske Oljeselskap (DNO), which outbid rival Genel Energy by US$36 million.
On 1 September, DNO bid approximately $396m in total (£292m), exceeding the $360m in July from Genel, which has itself been under offer from DNO since the end of July.
The terms with DNO include that each Capricorn shareholder will receive in aggregate $5.214 in cash for each Capricorn share held.
Irrevocable undertakings from certain Capricorn directors to vote in favour of the Genel offer have lapsed given that the DNO offer has a higher value, except those from chief executive officer Randy Neely who owns Capricorn shares and is therefore bound to vote against the DNO offer.
Capricorn, which holds joint venture assets onshore Egypt, said that even though Genel’s bid, which shareholders approved on 18 August, had not lapsed, it would not ask the court to sanction the offer.
DNO executive chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said that the acquisition of Capricorn would add a business with “scale, cashflow and growability” to its existing Kurdistan and the North Sea operations.
The sale, subject to approvals and conditions, is expected to become effective during the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter in 2027.
Capricorn previously attracted interest from Saudi Arabian firm Alamadiyaf al-Masiyyah for Trading Company Ltd and private investor Samos Energy, before which it was involved in failed mergers with Tullow Oil and Israel-based NewMed Energy.
Image: rig by Anita Starzycka from Pixabay