Woodside scraps A$11.7bn bid for Oil Search

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside has abandoned its A$11.7-billion bid for fellow-listed Oil Search.

Woodside said in a statement on Tuesday that the company had withdrawn its proposal to merge with Oil Search and was not pursuing any alternative transactions to combine the businesses.

Oil Search had previously rejected the takeover offer, under which Woodside had offered to acquire Oil Search shares for 0.25 of its own shares for every one Oil Search share held, allowing Oil Search shareholders to maintain a stake in the combined entity.

Oil Search said that with Woodside withdrawing its offer, the company’s focus would remain on delivering value for its shareholders by continuing to produce from its low-cost assets and progressing the development of its growth projects.