Synenco's Biggest Shareholders Agree To Total's Higher Bid
Thursday July 24th, 2008 / 14h11
OTTAWA -(Dow Jones)- Total SA (TOT) won over holdout shareholders at takeover target Synenco Energy Inc. (SYN.T) after the French oil company raised its bid to C$10.25 (US$10.15) a share, the companies said Thursday. Total was forced to extend its initial C$9 a share offer, first announced in April, three times, as two of Synenco's biggest shareholders repeatedly refused to tender their shares; both sought a higher price. As a result, Total only garnered 58% of the required two-thirds support from shareholders. Houston-based D.E. Shaw & Co. LP (DSW.XX), which holds 14%, and Boston-based Wellington Management Co. LLP, with 10%, have both agreed to the new offer, Total and Synenco said in a statement. The higher offer, representing a 32% premium to Synenco's April 25 closing price, now runs to 9:00 p.m. EDT Aug. 5. Calgary-based Synenco officially put itself up for sale last May after cost estimates for its proposed Northern Lights oil sands project in northern Alberta ballooned to C$10.7 billion. Few offers were forthcoming, however, and the company's board took over the search for a buyer in February, hoping to "reinvigorate" the sluggish process, and started talking to Total. State-owned refining giant China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP), or Sinopec, owns 40% of Northern Lights. -By Hyun Young Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; 613-237-0669; hyunyoung.lee@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=phsswTut%2FJDY9803IBEBGw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
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