Russia-focused oil explorer Imperial Energy is in demand following signs that the proposed bid by India's ONGC, which some investors believed could be in doubt, was well on track.
ONGC said all the conditions and Russian regulatory approvals for the deal had been met, and suggested the takeover could be completed within two to three months. Yesterday Imperial's shares were hit by fears that ONGC could be trying to renegotiate the terms of the offer, following the recent decline in the oil price. But that worry now seems overdone, and Imperial has climbed back 130p to £11.30. Oriel Securities said:
"Following on from the receipt of approval by anti-monopoly authorities, ONGC has announced that approval has been posted on the [Russian anti-trust authority] FAS website in respect of foreign ownership. As such it has confirmed that both pre-conditions of its £12.50 per share recommended offer for Imperial have been satisfied. The offer document is expected to be posted within 28 days. This should remove lingering doubts that the offer will proceed on its original terms (now worth circa 20% less in dollar terms)."
