Wessex Exploration has received a surprise takeover offer from French oil major Total, sending the Bristol-based company’s shares rocketing by over 30 per cent.
Total said it is looking to buy Wessex, which has interests in the south of England and offshore Africa, for around £71 million.
Total is the largest stakeholder in the Guyane venture that made the large Zaedyus oil discovery offshore Guyane last year, with a 45 per cent interest. Wessex owns a 1.25 per cent interest in the venture. Analysts believe the discovery has ‘multi-billion barrel’ potential.
In a statement, Wessex said: “The board of directors of Wessex has confirmed that in the absence of a higher competing offer and subject to shareholder consultation it would currently be minded to give its recommendation should a firm offer be made at this price by Total.”
Total has until 16 April to decide whether to lodge a formal bid under market rules.
Wessex was formed to explore the Wessex and Weald Basins of southern England at a time when the prolific Sherwood Sandstone reservoir had just been discovered in the giant Wytch Farm oil field, and smaller oil and gas discoveries were being made in the Weald Basin
Since that time, the company has expanded internationally, acquiring a portfolio of other assets in Guyane, (formerly French Guinea), the Mozambique Channel, offshore Madagascar in the French territory of Juan de Nova, and both offshore and onshore the Western Sahara of north-west Africa.
