SSLZY - Oil Search rebuffs $16B Santos merger offer

CHUNYIP WONG/iStock via Getty Images Oil Search Ltd. (OISHF) has rejected a takeover approach from Santos Ltd. (STOSF) that would create a A$22B (US$16B) liquefied natural gas export giant with operations across Australia and Papua New Guinea. Santos says made an all-share proposal on June 25 with an implied deal price of A$4.25/share, a 12% premium to Oil Search's closing price on the previous day, and indicates it would remain open to further negotiation. Santos and Oil Search are junior partners in the Exxon-operated PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea, which can produce as much as 8M metric tons/year of liquefied natural gas. News of the merger offer comes a day after Oil Search announced the surprise resignation of Managing Director Keiran Wulff.

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Oil Search rebuffs $16B Santos merger offer