Oil and gas explorer/producer Amerisur Resources (AMER) put itself up for sale after receiving a non-binding offer last week, and showed its confidence by immediately shutting down a bid.
After kicking off the formal process, the company reported a 17p per share bid, or around £200m, by an arm of Indonesian state player Pertamina, Maurel & Prom. The 40-per-cent premium on the undisturbed share price of 12p was not enough for Amerisur’s board, who said it “materially undervalued” the company and its Colombian assets.
Amerisur is now trading at the bid level of 17p, meaning its valuation has returned to a level last seen in January. Amerisur said other companies were also interested but only confirmed conversations had taken place as of Tuesday. Panmure Gordon analyst Colin Smith said Amerisur seemed to have a “significant degree of confidence” in a better offer, given its flat refusal of Maurel & Prom’s offer.
At the end of May, the company was averaging 6,800 barrels of oil per day in production. Amerisur has also signed a farm-in agreement with Occidental Petroleum for four prospects in Colombia, in which the major will fund $93m (£74m) in exploration in return for 50 per cent of each block.
