Norwegian oil and gas firm DNO makes £608m hostile bid for Faroe Petroleum
Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO has made an offer to buy Aberdeen-based rival Faroe Petroleum for roughly £607.9m after months of tension between the companies.
DNO said today it has offered 152p per share, which it said represents a premium of 20.8 per cent to Faroe’s share price of 125.8p at the close of business on Friday.
The Norwegian company already holds a 28 per cent stake in Faroe.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, executive chairman of DNO, said: “We firmly believe that Faroe's assets, the substantial part of which are Norwegian, are better placed in the bosom of DNO.”
The offer follows months of conflict between Faroe and its largest shareholder and speculation about a hostile takeover.
DNO bought additional shares in Faroe in April, but said it did not intend to make a bid for the company.
The shareholder then requested to nominate its own directors to the board, but withdrew the request after a backlash from Faroe.
Faroe Petroleum today issued a statement noting DNO's “unsolicited offer”.
"DNO did not engage with Faroe before making the announcement of its unilateral offer. The board of Faroe will meet together with its advisers to consider the offer and a further announcement will be made in due course," the company said.