takeover

Australian independent Santos Ltd. is set to bolster its global portfolio through a takeover of Papua New Guinea-based Oil Search Ltd. The deal announced Monday would give Santos a foothold in the Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) scene, considered some of the lowest-cost projects in the world. Oil Search is a partner in…

Toronto-based Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP won a prolonged takeover contest for Inter Pipeline Ltd. (IPL) in Calgary today after adding an all-cash option to its bid for shareholder support and raising the total offer to about C$8.6 billion ($6.9 billion). At a cost of a deal-breaking penalty of C$350 million ($280 million), IPL canceled a…

Citing “intense” competition in the race to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and an urgent need to secure liquidity, Australia-based LNG Ltd. (LNGL) is considering a takeover offer from a private Singapore-based firm that would include two proposed projects for the Gulf Coast and Canada.

Calling QEP Resources Inc. “deeply undervalued,” two affiliates of activist shareholder Elliott Management Corp., one of the company’s largest shareholders, offered to buy the onshore exploration and production company outright and take it private in a cash deal valued at more than $2 billion.

Calgary-based Ensign Energy Services Inc., one of the leading land-based drillers in North America, has launched a hostile bid to take over its cross-town rival Trinidad Drilling Ltd. for C$947 million (US$720 million), including debt.

TransCanada Corp. announced a US$848-million offer Monday to complete its takeover of Columbia Pipeline Group by buying up all the corporate ownership units of an investment affiliate.

Malaysia’s prime minister vowed that Petroliam Nasional Bhd will keep promises that secured Canadian approval of Progress Energy’s takeover.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. has completed its takeover of Plains Exploration & Production Co., with a total value of $16.2 billion, including $9.7 billion in debt. The transaction, completed Friday, included a payment of about $3.3 billion in cash ($25/Plains share), 91 million shares of Freeport common stock ($2.9 billion) and a special cash dividend of $3.00/share (see Daily GPI, May 21). The acquisition of related affiliate McMoRan Exploration Co. for close to $3 billion is expected to close on Monday (June 3), subject to shareholder approval. Former Plains Chairman and CEO Jim Flores was named co-vice chairman and CEO/president of subsidiary Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC. Flores also is to be part of newly formed office of the chairman with Chairman Jim Bob Moffett and Vice Chairman Richard C. Adkerson, who also is CEO/president. Flores had served as chairman/CEO of Plains since its inception in 2002; he became president in 2004. Former Plains directors Alan Buckwalter and Thomas A. Fry also have joined the board. Buckwalter is the retired chair of JPMorgan Chase Bank, South Region, and Fry retired as president of the National Ocean Industries Association after serving from 2000 to 2010; he also previously directed the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.

Encana Corp. is searching for a permanent CEO after Randy Eresman, who had spent his entire career at the Calgary company, suddenly resigned earlier this month. Director Clayton H. Woitas, who is CEO of privately held Range Royalty Management Ltd., remains interim president and CEO until a successor is named.