Spanish firm buys off assets

Business, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday May 13th, 2015

 SPANISH energy giant Repsol has completed the acquisition of Canada’s Talisman’s Energy’s entire asset at a total US$8.3 billion (K22.3bn) or US$8 (K21) per share. 

The Financial Post reported that Repsol started negotiations to take over Talisman last spring, but twice backed away from its own proposals over concerns about its North Sea business and as low prices kept declining.

The final offer price was about a third of what Talisman stock was worth four years ago.

Last Friday, Repsol announced to the market the completion of 

the acquisition of Talisman Energy Inc.

Under the terms of the previously announced arrangement, Repsol has acquired the ownership of all of the issued and outstanding common shares and preferred shares of Talisman (1,036,166,028 common shares and 8,000,000 preferred shares). Following the completion, Repsol said the common shares of Talisman would be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchanges, and the preferred shares will be delisted from the 

Toronto Stock Exchange. 

Despite the takeover of its Canadian parent by Repsol, Talisman Energy PNG told Business Advantage earlier this year that it was business as usual as it develops the Stanley gas field. 

Talisman is the operator of the US$300 million (K837 million) Stanley project in Western, holding a 40 per cent stake.

Vice president and general manager Grant Christie had reportedly said “We’ve got a drilling campaign starting up in mid-2015 going through to 2016, so that’s going to be focused on appraisal and additional exploration to add volume to aggregate to a critical mass of gas reserves. “There’s a second phase, which is the Stanley Gas project, and we’re the operator of that project, so we’re focusing our efforts at the moment on getting that project back on track to produce an oil stream and a domestic gas stream as soon as possible.”

Christie said oil produced from the project would be transported to Port Moresby where it would go into the Napa Napa refinery.