With Mineral Resources’ (MinRes) voting power in Norwest Energy increasing to more than 50 per cent, the company has now secured control of Norwest.
MinRes’ voting power was 53.86 per cent on Thursday and the closing date for MinRes’ offer has been automatically extended to March 2.
Any Norwest shareholders who accept the offer will receive one MinRes share for every 1300 Norwest shares, with MinRes shares to be issued within seven days of acceptance.
Norwest shareholders who do not accept the offer would become minority shareholders in a MinRes-controlled company.
MinRes managing director Chris Ellison said accepting the offer was a “no-brainer”.
“Those who don’t accept will be left behind in a MinRes-controlled company with none of the upside of being a MinRes shareholder or exposure to our world-class portfolio of diversified assets,” he said.
“Those who fail to promptly accept our revised offer will also miss out on receiving our interim dividend and risk having their own share price and liquidity diminish – but will still have to shoulder the burden of their share of significant Perth Basin exploration and development risk.”
Norwest recommended its shareholders accept MinRes’ $497 million offer in January, an important milestone in a takeover bid that began with an unsolicited $403 million MinRes bid in December.
Norwest’s minority stake in the Lockyer project is a key driver of MinRes’ takeover attempt. Lockyer is a major gas discovery in WA’s Perth Basin that is seen as a future source of inexpensive gas to power downstream processing in the resources-rich state.
It comes as Strike Energy recently walked away from its Warrego takeover tussle with Hancock Energy. This saw Strike realise $136 million in proceeds after selling its 30.4 per cent interest in Warrego.
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