Fosun to acquire Australian oil firm Roc in US$442m cash deal
Print Edition
AUSTRALIA’S Roc Oil Co yesterday accepted a A$474 million (US$442 million) takeover offer from Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd, saying it was better than its plan to merge with Horizon Oil Ltd.
The deal will give Fosun its first oil assets, with stakes in China, Australia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom’s North Sea. Roc produced 2.7 million barrels of oil equivalent last year.
Fosun has offered 69 Australian cents per share, a 10 percent premium to Roc’s close on Friday and 23 percent up on its share price the day before it announced it had received a tentative takeover proposal from an unnamed party.
“The proposal to purchase all of Roc’s shares for cash is superior when considered against the alternative merger of equals with Horizon and offers a significant premium to share price performance,” Roc Chairman Mike Harding said in a statement.
Rival oil and gas producer Horizon’s shareholders had been due to vote on Thursday on a nil premium merger with Roc Oil that would have given Roc shareholders a 42 percent stake in a US$915 million combined company.
The agreement with Fosun, which is subject to Australian foreign investment approval, comes after Roc’s top shareholder, Allan Gray, fought to block the Horizon deal.
The fund manager wanted to make the company hold a vote on the deal, but that was not required under Roc’s constitution. It failed to win enough shareholder support to change Roc’s constitution to require a vote on an all-scrip merger.
Fosun has moved on Roc Oil at the same time as it is bidding war for French holiday group Club Mediterranee.
“The reason for the company entering into the bid implementation agreement, and proposed transaction, is to enable it to enter the upstream oil and gas industry and acquire oil and gas assets,” Fosun said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.
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