(Alliance News) - Columbus Energy Resources PLC and Bahamas Petroleum Co PLC on Thursday unveiled plans for an all-share merger, a deal which the two firms hope will create a Caribbean-focused oil and gas "champion".
For each share in Columbus they own, shareholders will receive 0.803 Bahamas Petroleum shares.It's a deal which values London-based Columbus at GBP25.1 million, an 11% premium to its 2.40 pence closing price on Wednesday.
The stock was down 9.2% at 2.18p each in London on Thursday afternoon. Isle of Man-headquartered Bahamas Petroleum was down 16% at 2.80p.
Bahamas Petroleum said: "The boards believe that a combination of Columbus and BPC will create a Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil and gas 'champion', with assets that range across the full spectrum of oil and gas activities, from exploration, appraisal and development to production. The boards consider that the merger offers a strong fit in terms of asset overlap and technical, operational and financial/risk diversification synergies.
"In particular, the combined group will have access to high-impact offshore exploration in The Bahamas with drilling expected to take place within the next nine months, material onshore exploration, appraisal and development projects in Trinidad, a material onshore appraisal and development project in Suriname, and longer-term exploration prospects of scale in Uruguay."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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