Calgary-based Husky Energy made an offer to take over major Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy for $2.6B USD in a cash-and-stock deal that would also assume MEG’s debt, putting the overall “enterprise value” of the transaction at $4.9B.
The move sets up a battle between a Canadian oil company linked to prominent Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, and a Chinese energy giant (Cnooc) who owns a 12% stake in MEG.
And for good reason — when it comes to petrol huntin’, Canada’s oil sands are among the utmost premiere crude production hubs in the world. Combined, the two oil giants produce around 286k barrels a day from oil sands.
Bloomberg reports that if the board and shareholders of MEG accept Husky’s bid, the 2 companies would produce more than 410k barrels of global oil equivalent every day.
While MEG declined to comment, Husky CEO Rob Peabody said the company already presented a takeover settlement to MEG this summer, but its offer was rejected.
Now, Peabody is set to travel to Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and New York over the next 2 weeks to visit with MEG’S shareholders and bring the deal on home.
According to Husky’s press release, the terms offer MEG a price 37% higher than the company’s most recent closing price, and would be Husky’s largest-ever takeover.