LONDON (Alliance News) - Exillon Energy PLC Wednesday formally put itself up for sale after it received new takeover approaches.
The Russian oil producer had received an approach from founder and Kazakh businessman Maksat Arip at the end of July, but said it has since received other conditional approaches.
Talks with Arip were thrown into doubt after paper maker Kazakhstan Kagazy PLC said it had obtained a court order freezing Arip's assets in a separate dispute.
"The board of Exillon has unanimously decided to conduct a strategic review of the company's options, including a potential sale of the company," it said in a statement.
It said that there's no certainty a deal will be done given the new approaches are conditional.
"Exillon's assets remain materially undervalued by the market. The board has unanimously concluded that the best way to maximise value for all shareholders at this time is to conduct a strategic review, including an objective auction process," Chairman David Herbert said.
The company has appointed Goldman Sachs as financial adviser to work alongside LCF Edmond de Rothschild Securities to conduct the formal sale process.
Exillon Energy shares were up 9.1% at 170.25 pence after the announcement.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @SteveMcGrath1
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