Tanganyika Oil bought by Sinopec

Chinese refiner, Sinopec, has won the battle to acquire Calgary-based Tanganyika Oil in a deal that values the Canadian company at C$2bn (US$1.93bn).

Representatives of both parties were in London on Thursday to arrange formally signing the agreement and announce the takeover.

Tanganyika Oil, which has exploration and production assets in Syria and Egypt, has a primary listing in Toronto and listed depositary receipts in Stockholm.

The Chinese refiner is understood to have agreed to pay C$31.50 per share, and expects to acquire 100% of the company after securing support from its major shareholders.

The agreement follows Tanganyika’s statement last week when it announced that it was “in exclusive discussions with a third party relating to the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of the company”. It declined further comment.

Sinopec’s offer represents a significant premium to Tanganyika’s recent share price. On September 19 the stock closed at C$17.50 per share, and was as low as C$9.89 per share in January.

People familiar with the deal said that Sinopec’s offer was substantially higher than that offered by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the main rival bidder.

ONGC last month beat Sinopec, China’s second largest mainland oil and gas company, for control of Russia’s Imperial Energy with a US$2.5bn bid.

The acquisition is being made by Sinopec International Petroleum, the parent group’s unlisted exploration and production arm

Author: Jo Amey