CALGARY, Alberta (AFX) - Centurion Energy International Inc., a Canadian oil and gas company with major operations in Egypt, on Sunday agreed to be acquired by Dana Gas PJSC of the United Arab Emirates for 1.15 billion Canadian dollars ($1 billion)
The companies signed an agreement in Cairo on Sunday allowing the Canadian company to be bought by a wholly owned subsidiary of Dana Gas for 12 Canadian dollars ($10) in cash per share. Centurion's shares closed at 11.08 Canadian dollars ($9.70) in trading Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Dana will also assume about 99 million Canadian dollars ($87 million) in Centurion debt.
Centurion Energy chairman and chief executive Said Arrata said the sale to a bigger energy operator delivers value to the Calgary company's shareholders and opportunities for employees.
'We look forward to this unique opportunity with Dana Gas, a pioneer in the Middle East gas industry,' Arrata said. 'Together, the two companies, will provide the region with a strong indigenous private-sector player to develop the natural gas resources of the wider Middle East.'
The transaction gives Dana processing and marketing company access to Centurion's growing gas production and exploration in Egypt, Tunisia and off the coast of Nigeria.
Hamid Dhiya Jafar, executive chairman of Dana Gas, said the two companies 'share a common vision for the importance of the regional gas sector.'
'The complementary operations, strategy and approach to business makes Centurion particularly valuable to Dana Gas,' Jafar said.
'Centurion is an excellent company with outstanding people who have a proven track record in oil and gas activity in Egypt.'
The friendly cash bid represents a premium of 36.4 percent to Centurion's share price Oct. 30, the last trading day before the gas producer announced it was in talks on a possible corporate transaction.
The deal, endorsed by a special board committee set up by Centurion, is slated to close in early January.
The agreement also provides for a break fee of 34.75 million Canadian dollars ($30.7 million) payable to Dana if Centurion accepts a higher rival bid and also gives Dana the right to match any superior proposal.
Dana Gas was established in 2005 and is the first regional private-sector natural gas company in the Persian Gulf region. Dana is headquartered in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, trades on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange and has a stock value of about $2.7 billion.
Centurion has built a reserve base of more than 97 million barrels of oil equivalent output and had 2005 year-end production of 38,000 barrels a day of gas and liquids.
Last year, another former Calgary energy company, PetroKazakhstan, with significant oil operations in Asia, was sold to China National Petroleum Corp. for $4.2 billion.
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