Indian interest may spark Cove Energy bidding war
A THIRD group is considering a takeover offer for east Africa explorer Cove Energy, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the Aim-listed group.
Indian energy giant ONGC said it is mulling a joint offer with state gas firm GAIL, putting it in competition with Shell’s £992m potential offer and a rival £1.1bn plan from PTT.
ONGC said it was “participating in the formal sale process” for Cove’s Rovuma assets in Mozambique that began in January, but that it had made no decision.
“Rovuma… contains a world class gas asset, and so it is unsurprising there is competitive tension with regard to the current bid situation,” said Peel Hunt analyst Werner Riding.
“Anecdotally, there has been a very high level of interest with many major integrated oil firms viewing the data room, but it remains to be seen whether others will emerge as bidders.”