Indonesian oil and gas group Medco Energi Internasional has been given more time to decide whether it will proceed with the proposed takeover of Ophir Energy, or not.
“At the request of Ophir, the Takeover Panel has consented to an extension of the deadline for Medco Global to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Ophir or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for Ophir, until 5 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2019,” said a press release from Ophir, the oil and gas exploration and production company based in London.
Earlier this month, Ophir rejected Medco's $437 million potential buyout offer based on 48.5 pence per share saying it undervalued the company and that Medco had initially mooted 58 pence per share.
According to Reuters, Ophir's shares lost almost half of their value last year as it failed to find financing for a LNG project in Africa's Equatorial Guinea.
Ophir’s current output of 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil equivalent combined with Medco’s stated 2018 target of 85,000 bpd of oil equivalent would make Medco, which has been expanding, the seventh largest non-national oil company upstream producer in Southeast Asia, according to research firm WoodMac.
Ophir owns oil and gas assets in Southeast Asia and has recently lost its rights on the Block R license in Equatorial Guinea which contains the Fortuna Gas discovery after repeated delays to secure the funding for the development.