Drillsearch shareholders agree to Beach merger

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The shareholders of takeover target Drillsearch Energy have voted in favour of a merger agreement with fellow-listed Beach Energy.

Following a shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Drillsearch announced that nearly 99% of its shareholders had supported the merger.

“The combination of Drillsearch and Beach is highly attractive, and we are delighted that Drillsearch shareholders have voted in favour of this transaction. The focus of both companies is to press ahead with implementation of the proposed merger and to successfully integrate the two businesses to drive value from the combination,” said Drillsearch chairperson Jim McKerlie.

Under the terms of the agreement, Beach had agreed to acquire all Drillsearch shares through a scheme of arrangement, with Drillsearch shareholders offered 1.25 Beach shares for every Drillsearch share held.

The offer priced Drillsearch shares at 83c each, and valued the company at A$384-million.

Beach acting CEO Neil Gibbins said on Wednesday that the support shown by the Drillsearch shareholders was further evidence of the compelling nature of the transaction.

“As we have said before, by combining two complementary organisations, we expect to create the leading ASX-listed mid-cap oil and gas explorer and producer. We now look forward to completing the transaction, integrating the operations and continuing to execute our strategy to achieve sustainable growth in shareholder value.”

A second court hearing to approve the merger was expected in February, and assuming all other conditions precedent were satisfied, Drillsearch shareholders would be issued their new shares in early March.