OMV moves goalposts in battle for Cultus

By Mark Reynolds

A bidding war for oil exploration company Cultus Petroleum is still on the cards, despite a hostile takeover offer for the group being declared unconditional yesterday.

A takeover battle would pit state-owned Austrian oil company OMV against a group of New Zealand investors headed by Sir Michael Fay and David Richwhite.

One of the main spoils of the power struggle would be a 30 per cent stake in New Zealand's largest offshore oil find - the Maari oil field, discovered off the coast of Taranaki last year.

The battle lines are clear after four months of skirmishes culminated yesterday in OMV declaring it had secured a 33 per cent interest in Cultus. OMV said it had increased an earlier takeover offer by 10 per cent to 84Ac a share and was dropping conditions it had imposed on the deal. Those conditions included a requirement that it would need to secure commitments from at least 40 per cent of shareholders before any shares would be paid for.

With the dropping of the 40 per cent threshold, OMV has become Cultus' largest single shareholder.

But still standing in the way of outright control by OMV are interests associated with Sir Michael and Mr Richwhite, who own about 25 per cent of the company.

A spokesperson for the New Zealand-linked investors said the revised offer was being considered, but added that it "should not be assumed that it will be accepted".

That leaves open the door for a counter-offer by the New Zealanders.

The latest offer compares with an independent valuation of Cultus shares at $A1.04-$A1.39 a share.

Cultus directors said yesterday that they intended to recommend shareholders accept the revised bid, even though it was below the independent valuation.

However, they said the recommendation would be made "in the absence of a higher offer".

OMV said it had lifted its offer price by 10 per cent in light of recent rises in international oil prices.

The Austrian company has previously said it wanted to use Cultus as the base for building a significant exploration and production business in Australia. A main part of that base would be the 30 per cent stake in Maari, which has been confirmed as an economic field of at least 40 million barrels of oil.

A 50 per cent stake in Maari is owned by Shell Petroleum, which has previously been touted as another potential suitor for Cultus.

Cultus shares closed in New Zealand at $1 each yesterday, slightly below the bidding price in Australia.

The revised offer is scheduled to close on September 9.