Plains Resources Inc. said last Monday it entered into an amendment of a merger proposal by Vulcan Energy Corp. and two top company officials that boosted the takeover offer by 50 cents per share.

The all-cash bid from Vulcan Energy, an investment firm controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, and Plain Resources’ Chairman James C. Flores and CEO John T. Raymond was raised to $17.25 per share from $16.75. Flores and Raymond are partners with Vulcan Energy in the transaction, which would take the Houston-based midstream and upstream energy company private.

Trading of Plains Resources’ stock opened Friday at above the takeover offer — $17.48 a share.

The adoption of the amended merger agreement and merger requires the approval of a majority of the outstanding common stock, according to Plains Resources. Currently, holders of an estimated 17% of the outstanding common stock are contractually committed to vote in favor of both the merger agreement and merger, it said.

That includes 12% of outstanding common stock held by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP and EnCap Investments LLC. Both have granted Vulcan Energy an irrevocable proxy to vote their respective shares in favor of the merger.

Only one member of a special committee of the board of directors that was set up to consider offers for Plains Resources voted against the amendment to the merger agreement. William M. Hitchcock told Vulcan that he would not support a deal at less than $17.50 per share. Vulcan Energy responded that $17.25 was its “best and final offer.”

Plains Resources has scheduled a special meeting for July 22 for its stockholders to vote on the adoption of the amended merger agreement.

The energy company frowned on the latest takeover offer of Leucadia National Corp, a holding company based in New York. On July 7, Leucadia suggested a leveraged recapitalization in which Plains Resources would remain a public company, would borrow approximately $175 million and use the proceeds to begin a tender offer to buy up to 10 million shares of common stock at a price of $17 per share, as well as proposed changes in management and governance at the company. Plain Resources called the offer “flawed in several respects.”

Plains Resources has a 24% equity ownership in Plains All American Pipeline LP. The liquids pipeline’s operations are concentrated in Texas, Oklahoma, California and Louisiana and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Plains Resources also participates in the upstream activities of acquiring, exploiting, developing, exploring for and producing oil through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Calumet Florida LLC, which has producing properties in the Sunniland Trend in south Florida.

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