ENOC presses ahead with Dragon Oil takeover amid shareholder protest

Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) is progressing with its 1.7 billion pound purchase of Dragon Oil shares it does not already own, despite a major investor saying the takeover undervalued the company.

ENOC published its offer document on Wednesday, showing the deal is moving ahead, and shareholders have until 1400 GMT on July 30 to agree to the terms, ENOC said.

Dragon Oil’s second-largest shareholder, asset management company Baillie Gifford, said two weeks ago the offer was not high enough. It demanded the deal should include a contingent payment note based on Dragon Oil’s flagship Cheleken area oil fields in Turkmenistan hitting certain production milestones.

“We see no need to offer a contingent payment note or any similar cumbersome mechanism given the plateau in Dragon Oil’s production,” an ENOC spokesman said in a statement.

On June 15, Dragon Oil agreed to ENOC’s offer to buy out minority shareholders for 750 pence per share, increasing an initial offer made in May that had been rejected.

ENOC, which is owned by the government of Dubai, failed to buy Dragon Oil in a first attempt in 2009 after minority shareholders rejected a bid.