In the absence of a competing proposal, Mitsui has announced that it will not extend its offer unless its interest in AWE shares exceed 50.1 per cent prior to its scheduled close at 7pm on 6 April 2018; it also confirmed that it will not increase the $0.95 per share offer price.
On 6 February, the AWE Board unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the bid, with each of the directors intending to accept the takeover bid with respect to all AWE shares they owned all controlled.
The offer has now been open for six weeks, allowing AWE shareholders to assess the merits of the offer.
Mitsui says the offer recognises the value of AWE operations and development projects, including the Waitsia Gas Project in Western Australia, and gives shareholders the following benefits:
- an AWE appointed independent expert has deemed the offer fair and reasonable
- the offer is an all-cash offer
- the offer price represents a significant premium of 74.3 per cent to the closing share price of AWE prior to the receipt of any take over proposals
- the offer also represents an 86.6 per cent premium to the 3 month VWAP of AWE shares.
Mitsui intends to declare the offer unconditional and provide accelerated payment terms to AWE shareholders, if its share acquisition terms are met.
AWE CEO and Managing Director David Biggs has said that the deal will see the development of the Waitsia Gas Project, which is a 50:50 joint venture between AWE (operator) and Origin Energy.