Mineral Resources has sweetened its takeover bid for Perth Basin gas player Norwest Energy
The Norwest Energy board is recommending shareholders accept a sweetened takeover bid from MinRes.
Norwest Energy’s board has unanimously supported a sweetened takeover offer from Mineral Resources. with the new scrip bid pitched at just shy of half a billion dollars.
MinRes is now offering Norwest shareholders one of its shares for each 1300 Norwest share parcel, up from 1367.
The new bid puts a value of $497m on Norwest, up from $403m, and has now been unanimously endorsed by the Norwest board.
Based on Tuesday’s closing price of $96.28 for MinRes shares, the offer puts a value of 7.4c per share on Norwest, which closed yesterday at 7c, up 4.5 per cent.
The new bid was announced to the market after trade closed on Tuesday.
MinRes has also amassed a 19.2 per cent stake in fellow Perth Basin gas player Warrego Energy, which has been the target of competing takeover bids, with Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Energy and Strike Energy still fighting it out over that prize.
MinRes said last week that it had no takeover aspirations for Warrego however and considered its shareholding a “strategic stake’’.
Norwest chairman Ernie Myers told the ASX on Tuesday that the board was “satisfied that MinRes’ improved offer is now a good deal for shareholders, and in the absence of a superior offer, unanimously recommends shareholders should accept the offer before it closes’’.
“The revised offer provides Norwest shareholders with an opportunity to maintain an interest in the Lockyer project through an investment in MinRes, being a company with significantly greater balance sheet strength and underpinned by a diverse portfolio of operations.’’
The MinRes offer for Norwest has been extended until February 20, and shareholders who accept by that date will be eligible to receiver MinRes’ interim dividend.