Enoc set to delist Dragon Oil soon

Enoc-branded oil barrels are stored at its lubricants and grease manufacturing plant in Fujairah. Enoc owns a majority stake of 54 per cent in oil producer Dragon Oil.

Dubai - Company had revised buyout offer to win approval of minority shareholders

Read more...

By Issac John

Published: Mon 10 Aug 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Tue 11 Aug 2015, 9:29 AM

Emirates National Oil Company, or Enoc, has announced that it will delist Dragon Oil from the Irish and London stock exchanges following its acquisition of the company.
The Dubai-based company, which holds a majority stake in Dragon Oil, also revised its offer to buy the rest of the company by increasing  price to 800pence in cash per share. This values the Turkmesistan-based company at almost £3.95 billion.
Enoc, which already owns 54 per cent of Dragon, submitted a £3.7 billion offer for Dragon Oil in July, but it was learnt that some of the other shareholders, including investor Elliott Advisers and Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh-based asset manager, held out for a higher price.
Enoc said in a statement that following the delisting move, the last day of trading of Dragon Oil Shares on the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange would be September 4, 2015. The cancellation of trading of Dragon Oil shares will significantly reduce the liquidity and marketability of any Dragon Oil shares not acquired by Enoc, the statement said.
Enoc said its offer would remain open to shareholders until 3pm on August 28. However, it indicated that it had already received acceptances covering the majority of the outstanding share capital.
The news comes as Dragon Oil released its results for the first half of the year, reporting an 18 per cent dip in revenue to $449.9 million. Operating profits were down even more, declining 54 per cent to $179.1 million.
Chief executive Dr Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said the sharp drop in crude oil prices was reflected in these figures and came despite an increase in production by the company.
Dragon Oil said it was now producing more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day, which it plans to be its minimum average until 2021 at the earliest.
Enoc names new directors
Enoc announced the appointment of a new board of directors to oversee the company's operations under the direction of the chairman of the board, Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, was appointed Vice Chairman of the board.
The other new board members include Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh, director-general, department of finance - Government of Dubai; and Ahmad Butti Al Muhairbi, secretary-general, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, who join Hussain Hassan Mirza Al Sayegh, deputy chairman, Oilfields Supply Centre Ltd; Ahmad Sharaf, CEO of Dutco Energy and chairman of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, and Dr AbdulRahman Al Awar, director-general, Federal Authority for Government Human Resources.
Saif Al Falasi, group CEO of Enoc, said the new board members, along with the other board directors, will be responsible for directing its overall business.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the board directors leaving us, Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer and Mohammed Al Ghurair, and express our deepest appreciation to the support we have received from them over the years.
"Together, we will continue to build on our strong strategy of delivering high quality international standard products, world-class customer service and relationship management, which has delivered solid results over the past five years," Al Falasi said.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

Issac John

Published: Mon 10 Aug 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Tue 11 Aug 2015, 9:29 AM

Recommended for you