Tethys shares jump after Nostrum reveals offer is yet to be accepted
NOSTRUM Oil & Gas revealed yesterday that its offer to take over Tethys Petroleum has not yet been accepted, with the two companies unable to agree upon the terms of the proposed deal.
Shares in Tethys closed up by 7.89 per cent yesterday, at 5.12p, while Nostrum’s shares rose by 0.48 per cent.
Asia-focused Tethys had previously been close to reaching a deal with AGR Energy, however it fell through.
Nostrum made its approach in July, offering C$0.2185 per share for Tethys, which valued the firm at around £36m. However in August, Nostrum announced a reduced offer of C$0.147 per share.
Yesterday, Nostrum said that in the past few weeks while the groups have tried to reach a deal, it “believes that the underlying financial position of Tethys has continued to deteriorate and that there has continued to be an erosion of Tethys’ value”.
However, the firm said it “remains willing to maintain the price of the proposed offer”, and added that if an agreement can be hammered out “shortly”, the deal could complete before the end of the year.
Tethys said it “continues to consider the offer”.