Woodside has announced that it is “surprised and disappointed” that the Board of Oil Search Ltd has unanimously decided to reject its recent merger proposal.
In a statement, Woodside said that it had hoped that the Board of Oil Search would agree to meet in order to understand the benefits of the opportunity or negotiate the terms of a merger.
Under the proposal, Oil Search shareholders would have received all scrip consideration of 0.25 Woodside shares for every Oil Search share and represent a 31.7% shareholding in the combined entity.
The statement from Woodside read: “Woodside believes the proposal would create the regional oil and gas champion for both Papua New Guinea and Australia with a global portfolio of world class assets and development opportunities which would deliver significant benefits to both companies' shareholders.”
Woodside added that it will continue to maintain a disciplined approach to its business development opportunities.
Edited from press release by Callum O'Reilly