By Stephen Cunningham and John Duce
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- China Petrochemical Corp. will gain reserves in Iraq’s Kurdistan and West Africa upon completing its C$8.3 billion ($7.2 billion) bid for Addax Petroleum Corp.
The Chinese company, known as Sinopec Group, is the country’s second-biggest oil producer. It agreed to pay C$52.80 a share in cash for Addax, the Geneva-based company said in a statement yesterday. That’s 47 percent more than Addax’s closing price in Toronto on June 5, the day before the company said it was in takeover talks.
The deal, China’s biggest overseas takeover to date, hands Sinopec Group control of 42.5 million barrels of proven and probable reserves in Iraq’s Kurdish territory, where the start of oil exports earlier this month sparked a wave of takeover interest. China has spent as much as $5.4 billion since December on oil assets in Singapore, Syria and Kazakhstan after crude prices fell from a record and equity markets tumbled.
“This is all part of the company’s drive to secure more oil reserves abroad,” said Larry Grace, an independent oil analyst in Hong Kong. “If it goes through, it seems like a good deal.”
The deal surpasses China National Petroleum Corp.’s $4.18 billion takeover of PetroKazakhstan Inc. in 2005 and comes three weeks after Rio Tinto Group scrapped a $19.5 billion proposed investment from Aluminum Corp. of China.
The Addax deal is the second this month involving assets in Iraq’s Kurdish territory. Heritage Oil Ltd. agreed to buy Turkey’s Genel Energy International Ltd. for 1.52 billion pounds ($2.52 billion) in stock on June 9, creating the biggest producer in that area.
Shares Gain
Addax surged 275 pence, or 12 percent, to a record 2,643 pence in London yesterday. China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., Sinopec Group’s unit, added 1.1 percent to close at HK$5.59.
DNO International ASA, the first foreign oil producer in Iraq since 1972, rose by the most in more than a month in Oslo Trading following news of the Addax deal. The shares climbed 0.9 krone, or 13 percent, to 7.67 kroner.
“It wouldn’t be unnatural for DNO, given its position in Iraq, to attract interest from potential buyers,” said Arnstein Wigestrand, an analyst at SEB Enskilda in Oslo. DNO Chief Executive Officer Helge Eide last week declined to say whether DNO had been approached by bidders.
Sinopec Group has until Aug. 24 to receive clearance from the Chinese government to go ahead with the deal. It will pay a break-up free of C$300 million to Addax if it doesn’t have approval by that date.
Addax’s board recommended shareholders accept the offer. Senior directors have entered into lock-up agreements to sell their 38 percent interest in the company to Sinopec.
Founded in 1994, Addax is also one of the largest independent oil producers in West Africa, with 94 wells in Nigeria and 62 in Gabon as of the end of last year.
Taq Taq Field
Addax started exports from the Taq Taq license area in Kurdistan, the producer said on June 1. The crude is being sent by truck to the Khurmala station, then transported by pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Exports from DNO International’s Tawke field, another project in the autonomous region, have also commenced.
Production capacity at Taq Taq is about 40,000 barrels a day, and Addax is expanding the facilities to pump as much 70,000 barrels a day. The company and partner Genel Energy expect peak production of 180,000 barrels a day and aim to build a pipeline from the field to the export link, it said.
Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corp., a unit of Sinopec Group, said the acquisition of Addax is a “transformational” transaction.
The purchase will help Sinopec Group “achieve its strategic objective to build a stronger presence and operations in West Africa and Iraq, accelerating its international growth strategy as well as optimizing its offshore oil and gas asset portfolio,” the unit said in a statement in state-run China Daily yesterday.
RBC Capital Markets is acting as financial advisor to Addax.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=aUrdb4bCdjcs#
Nordea Markets starter i dag dekning av DNO-aksjen, med et kursmål på 9,20 kroner. De omtaler aksjen som en "skinnende oppkjøpskandidat", ifølge TDN Finans.
Addax
I går ble det klart at kinesiske Sinopec byr 52,80 kanadiske dollar per aksje for Addax, en budpremie på 47 prosent over sluttkurs før budet var kjent i markedet.
Addax Petroleum driver virksomhet i Kurdistan, i likhet med norske DNO International og tyrkiske Genel Enerji.
Heritage Oil annonserte like etter oljeeksporten startet fra Kurdistan, at selskapet har inngått en intensjonsavtale om å kjøpe selskapet Genel Enerji.
Addax
I går ble det klart at kinesiske Sinopec byr 52,80 kanadiske dollar per aksje for Addax, en budpremie på 47 prosent over sluttkurs før budet var kjent i markedet.
Addax Petroleum driver virksomhet i Kurdistan, i likhet med norske DNO International og tyrkiske Genel Enerji.
Heritage Oil annonserte like etter oljeeksporten startet fra Kurdistan, at selskapet har inngått en intensjonsavtale om å kjøpe selskapet Genel Enerji.
25/6 2009 17:51 JCBN 0
14256 Hele artiklen her aka :)
http://www.hegnar.no/bors/energi/article381071.ece
http://www.hegnar.no/bors/energi/article381071.ece
