Global's Jupiter Petroleum acquisition cleared

Namibia's competition commission has approved oil group Global Petroleum's takeover of Jupiter Petroleum, which holds prospective oil and gas interests off the coast of the southern African country.A few more hurdles need to be cleared before the acquisition can go ahead, including due diligence investigations, obtaining necessary consents from governmental authorities, a report from an independent expert that the transaction is fair and reasonable to Global shareholders.Jupiter also has assets off Juan de Nova, a French dependency in the Mozambique Channel.Global said last month that, due to delays in meeting the acquisition conditions, the deadline for meeting those conditions was extended to 31 August from 30 June.Global said today that it is "continuing to work towards satisfying the remaining conditions precedent as soon as possible and, subject to regulatory review, anticipates sending a notice of meeting to shareholders by the end of June."Global is based in Australia and currently has assets in Texas and Uganda.---RG