Cultus hopes of counter-offer dwindle

By Mark Reynolds

A public relations battle between oil exploration company Cultus Petroleum and its hostile predator OMV Austria has stepped up as the takeover war for Cultus rages on.

Cultus yesterday announced it had modified its loan arrangements to cut its debt by $A20.8 million. As a result of the loan repayment Cultus has cut its cash deposits, but they still remain at a healthy $A47.6 million.

Cultus' cash is just one of the attractions OMV sees in the company, which is about 25 per cent owned by interests associated with Sir Michael Fay and David Richwhite, including the company's management.

That announcement came as OMV said it had conditional agreements to buy 20.9 per cent of Cultus, making it the largest individual shareholder in the company.

A main condition of its holding is that it must secure acceptances for 50.1 per cent of the company before its offer of 76Ac a share proceeds.

The offer has been extended by a further two weeks to July 28, with OMV hoping that analysts' recommendations to accept the bid in the absence of a higher offer will bear fruit.

It had been speculated that Mr Richwhite and Sir Michael might launch a counter-offer, but OMV's managing director in Australia, Wolfgang Zimmer, said yesterday no other offer had emerged since his company made its bid 12 weeks ago and "the likelihood of another bidder emerging is slim".