Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp have decided to not make a revised bid for Gulfsands Petroleum Plc, after the firm refused a request for due diligence. IOC and OIL say the due diligence was necessary for the revised bid.

Gulfsands has rejected a 381mn pound offer made by OIL-IOC combine. Gulfsands claimed that the offer is too low and asked for regulatory intervention for a revised offer. The Takeover Panel asked OIL-IOC to make an offer by May 11 or walk away for 6 months.

OIL-IOC had offered 315 pence a share on March 18, while Gulfsands was seeking 400 pence per share.

For Gulfsands, the two firms were being advised by Seymour Pierce.

Transaction Reference: PTI

Gulfsands's main asset is its 50% stake in Block 26 in north-east Syria which includes the Khurbet East and Yousefieh fields. Oil production is expected to rise to about 20,000 barrels of per day this year from 11,000 bpd currently. It also owns interests in 44 blocks, including 30 producing blocks, off the coast of Texas and Louisiana.

IOC and OIL were in December 2005 allowed by the government to jointly bid for oil and gas properties abroad. The two formed a 50:50 joint venture and have been pursuing acreages in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, South America, CIS countries and Russia.

They approached several of Gulfsands' large UK institutional shareholders, including Schroders, which holds 22 per cent stake in Gulfsands, before making the bid.

IOC and OIL have a portfolio of exploration blocks in Gabon (one onshore exploration block), Iran (one offshore discovered oil and gas block), Libya (three onshore exploration blocks), Nigeria (one onshore exploration area) and Yemen (two exploration blocks).

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KVEZAR VIEW

  DEAL TRACKER FOR

Date	Transaction	Type	Buyer	Size ($mn)
05/05/10	Gulfsands Resources Plc - OIL-IOC	M&A	Oil India Limited	-

 

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Seymour Pierce Limited