Latest news with #hostiletakeover
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
GeoPark's Shareholder Plan Creates Opening to Thwart Hostile Bid
Latin American oil and gas producer GeoPark looks to be making moves to defend itself form a hostile takeover after a rival energy firm took a large stake in the company. In a shareholder rights plan announced on Tuesday, Bogotá-based GeoPark adopted a mechanism for rights to become exercisable if an entity or person acquires ownership of 12% or more in the company. The move follows a recent SEC filing by Pampa Energy Inc., which reported a 10.17% holding in GeoPark.
National Post
24-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Meet Tim Hodgson, the new energy minister Mark Carney hopes can bridge the gap with the West
Article content There's a story about Tim Hodgson's legendary tenacity from his investment banking days at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Article content In 1997, so the story goes, Hodgson was working in Goldman's Canadian corporate finance group in New York when he caught wind of a hostile takeover bid being made for Wascana Energy Inc., then one of Canada's largest oil and gas producers. Article content Goldman prided itself on defending companies subject to hostile takeovers and Hodgson began trying to get a meeting with the leaders of the Saskatchewan-headquartered company to try to convince them to hire his firm. Article content Article content 'Apparently, they wouldn't take Tim's call,' Simon Bregazzi, who worked at Goldman with Hodgson years later, said. 'So, he flew to Regina and just parked in reception until they would take a meeting. Apparently, he was there for days, until finally the CEO was just like, 'F— it. OK, fine. I'll meet with this guy.'' Article content Article content Former Wascana chief executive Frank Proto doesn't remember anyone camping out in the lobby, but he does remember Hodgson. Article content 'He was focused, he was aggressive; he was very sharp,' Proto recalled, noting Hodgson ultimately helped Wascana secure a $1.7-billion offer from white knight Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., which later became Nexen Inc. 'We ended up with a substantially better deal.' Article content Nearly 30 years later, Hodgson's tenacity and dealmaking prowess are about to be put to an even bigger test. Article content Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney tapped the rookie member of Parliament to be Canada's minister of natural resources, making him the Liberals' point person on energy and a key intermediary with the West. Article content Article content Article content Carney has pledged to make Canada an 'energy superpower' and to take a different approach to energy and resource development than predecessor Justin Trudeau, but skepticism is high in oil-rich Alberta and Saskatchewan, where Carney's track record of environmental advocacy has raised fears that his tenure will bring more of the same. Article content Article content Separatist sentiment has been rising and premiers Danielle Smith and Scott Moe have aggressively moved to freeze or scrap the federally regulated industrial carbon tax, thereby putting both provinces on a collision course with Ottawa.
Globe and Mail
16-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Canadian oil producer Strathcona to launch $5.93-billion hostile bid for MEG Energy
Canadian oil and gas producer Strathcona SCR-T said late Thursday it plans to launch a $5.93-billion hostile takeover bid for rival MEG Energy MEG-T, aiming to create one of the country's largest oil sands companies. The all-cash-and-stock unsolicited offer would combine two of Canada's largest pure-play thermal oil sands operators, and make Strathcona Canada's fifth-largest oil producer. Strathcona said it first made an offer to MEG's board on April 28, but was turned down on May 13. Strathcona has already built a nearly 9 per cent stake in MEG through market purchases earlier this year. It said it plans to formally file its offer in the next two weeks and is still open to talks with MEG's board. MEG did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Strathcona is offering 0.62 of its share and $4.10 in cash for each MEG share, valuing the bid at $23.27 per share – a 9.3 per cent premium to MEG's last closing price. The company said it would fund the cash portion of the deal through a bridge loan from lenders. Strathcona's main stakeholder, Waterous Energy Fund, which owns nearly 80 per cent of the company's shares, plans to increase its investment. If the deal goes through, MEG shareholders would own 37.8 per cent of the combined company. Waterous would hold just over half, including the new shares. Strathcona said it was targeting $175-million in annual cost savings, including lower spending on operations, capital, and interest. Strathcona's bid also comes after it recently sold its Montney assets for about $2.84-billion and bought the Hardisty Rail Terminal to focus on core heavy oil operation.
