Norwegian oil company DNO has achieved another slight increase to its stake in Faroe Petroleum, it said on Friday as it continues its battle for control of the British business.
DNO’s combined ownership and bid acceptances now stand at 43.8%, up from about 43% on Thursday but still short of a controlling stake in London-listed Faroe.
It had previously required backing from 57.5% of Faroe shareholders to take control but that fell to 50% on Thursday after it lifted its holding sufficiently to turn the bid from voluntary to mandatory and thus subject to take over regulation requiring a lower threshold.
Faroe separately reiterated its view on Friday that the 610 million pound ($772 million) offer was inadequate, under valuing the North Sea portfolio that DNO covets as it seeks to expand its operations, which are primarily based in the Middle East.
A report by oil industry analysts Gaffney Cline &Associates, first released by Faroe on Wednesday, valued the Aberdeen-based company’s shares at between 186 and 225 pence, a premium of up to 48% on DNO’s offer price of 152 pence.
DNO’s shares traded up 4% by 0843, supported by a 1.6% increase in the price of crude oil, while Faroe shares rose 0.5% to 154 pence.
Faroe shareholders have set a deadline of January the 8th to decide whether to accept DNO’s bid.
