Enterprise Oil rejects ENI bid
Wednesday, 9 January 2002Oil producer Enterprise Oil has rejected a bid approach from the acquisitive Italian energy giant ENI. The news starts a new chapter of takeover fever around the 18-year-old North Sea-focused company - one of the most talked about bid targets in the European oil sector.
Enterprise is best known here for its successful exploration work in the Corrib Gas Field off the west coast. The company is also involved in exploration work in the US and Italy.
Enterprise said yesterday that it had rejected a bid, but refused to name the bidder or the price. Enterprise shares raced up 21% to close at 605 pence, valuing the company at £2.92 billion sterling.
ENI is the world's sixth largest energy company and has a joint venture with Enterprise in southern Italy. It bought the UK's number two oil independent, Lasmo, last year, and has an ambitious growth programme and cash to spend on acquisitions.
One of the main attractions of Enterprise is that its production is almost entirely in developed countries, which have allowed it to avoid some of the political conflicts besetting companies with interests in the Middle East or South America.
