Dutch

Is that an “I told you so” coming from the Barrett Resources board room? Yesterday, Royal Dutch/Shell raised its bid $5 a share for the Denver-based independent, and is now valuing the gas-rich company at $2.01 billion. Shell launched a hostile takeover bid in March for $55 a share, but Barrett had said the offer was too small (see Daily GPI, March 12).

Is that an “I told you so” coming from the Barrett Resources board room? On Thursday, Royal Dutch/Shell raised its bid $5 a share for the Denver-based independent, valuing the gas-rich company at $2.01 billion. Shell launched a hostile takeover bid in March for $55 a share, but Barrett had said the offer was too small (see NGI, March 12). With the new offer of $60 a share on the table, Barrett said it now will take the offer into consideration.

Barrett Resources wasn’t quite ready to circle the wagons onFriday to fight off a hostile takeover bid by Royal Dutch ShellGroup, but it did give Shell the cold shoulder. Barrett said itwould begin an open bidding process to consider proposals from “anumber of qualified parties, rather than commencing negotiationssolely with Shell under artificial deadlines that only serveShell’s interests.”

Defending its hostile takeover attempt for Denver-based Barrett Resources Corp., Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s CEO Walter van de Vijver sent a letter to Barrett’s board of directors Wednesday calling the $55 a share offer a “full and fair value” for the gas-rich independent. Barrett has rejected Shell’s offer and is now considering strategic alternatives (see NGI, March 12). There had been no response by Barrett at the end of last week.

Defending its hostile takeover attempt for Denver-based BarrettResources Corp., Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s CEO Walter van de Vijversent a letter to Barrett’s board of directors Wednesday calling the$55 a share offer a “full and fair value” for the gas-richindependent. Barrett has rejected Shell’s offer and is nowconsidering strategic alternatives (see Daily GPI, March 12).

Analysts covering the attempted takeover of Barrett Resources byRoyal Dutch Shell Group said last week they expect to seeadditional consolidation of U.S. independents with a heavy gasportfolio, especially now that the majors and larger independentsare flush with cash from through-the-roof commodity pricing in thepast year.

In a second lawsuit filed this week to prevent future legalroadblocks, Royal Dutch Shell Group is asking a federal court todeclare that its tender offer to take over Denver-based BarrettResources Corp. complies with the regulations of the Securities andExchange Commission, and that Barrett may not file a lawsuit on anymerger-related issues except in the Delaware courts, where Barrettis incorporated.

Barrett Resources wasn’t quite ready to circle the wagons onFriday to fight off a hostile takeover bid by Royal Dutch ShellGroup, but did give Shell the cold shoulder. Barrett said it wouldbegin an open bidding process to consider proposals from “a numberof qualified parties, rather than commencing negotiations solelywith Shell under artificial deadlines that only serve Shell’sinterests.”

Royal Dutch Shell Group yesterday launched a bid to buy naturalgas-rich independent Barrett Resources Corp. of Denver for $2.2billion in cash and assumed debt, which would give Shell animmediate presence in the Rocky Mountains. While Barrett’s board ofdirectors indicated it might fight the offer, Shell promised tobegin a hostile takeover if it is rejected.