Australia's Roc Oil Accepts Fosun's Takeover Offer

Australia’s Roc Oil announced on Monday that it has accepted Fosun International’s A$474 million takeover offer saying it was better than its plan to merge with Horizon Oil.

Fosun’s offer of A$0.69 a share is at 10 percent premium to Roc's close last Friday and a 23 percent premium to Roc's share price the day before it announced it had received a tentative takeover proposal from an unidentified party.

"The proposal to purchase all of Roc’s shares for cash is superior when considered against the alternative merger of equals with Horizon and offers a significant premium to share price performance. In reaching our conclusion that the Fosun offer is in the best interests of shareholders and a superior proposal as defined in the Horizon Merger Implementation Deed, the Board has considered a number of alternatives, including the standalone value of ROC and the value of pursuing a merger with Horizon in accordance with its proposed terms,” Roc Chairman, Mike Harding said.

Fosun said the reason for the company entering into the agreement is to enable the Group to enter the upstream oil and gas industry and acquire oil and gas assets. Roc Oil has assets in Australia, China, Malaysia and the UK North Sea.