Capricorn Energy PLC

Genel Energy raised its cash offer for Capricorn Energy to $436 million, outbidding rival DNO and winning renewed backing from Capricorn's board. The revised terms give Capricorn shareholders approximately $5.74 per share, made up of $4.75 in cash and a $0.99 special dividend, a 10% premium to DNO's offer. Genel first secured Capricorn's board support with a $360 million offer in July, before DNO intervened with a higher $396 million bid earlier this month; Capricorn's board has now withdrawn its recommendation for DNO's bid and backs Genel, saying it delivers shareholders superior value, certainty and deliverability. Genel has also locked in support from key shareholders including Palliser Capital, Newtyn Management, Kite Lake Capital and Madison Avenue Partners, securing commitments covering roughly 39.1% of Capricorn's issued share capital. Capricorn Energy shares rose 11.9% to 442 pence in early London trading, touching a 15-year high, as its Western Desert assets in Egypt draw competing bids.

Norwegian oil company DNO has agreed revised terms for its proposed takeover of UK-listed Capricorn Energy, raising its offer to $5.214 in cash per share and valuing the company at $396m, or £294m. Capricorn's directors intend to unanimously recommend that shareholders support the deal. The revised proposal replaces an earlier structure that offered $4.224 in cash per share plus a proposed special dividend of $0.99, with shareholders now receiving the full acquisition value directly in cash from DNO's Bidco subsidiary; the companies said the new arrangement provides greater certainty of value because it does not depend on Capricorn declaring and paying the proposed dividend before the transaction becomes effective, and Capricorn's board no longer expects to declare and pay a dividend equivalent to that amount. The revised cash consideration is equivalent to £3.88 per share, a premium of roughly 46% to Capricorn's closing share price of £2.66 on 10 March 2026, the day before the offer period began, and 61% above the company's three-month volume-weighted average price of £2.41. DNO's proposal increases the implied value of Capricorn by around $36m compared with the acquisition value under the earlier offer from Genel Energy on a constant-currency basis, an increase of $0.474 per Capricorn share and a premium of around 10% to the value of the Genel proposal; Capricorn had agreed to DNO's original proposal earlier this month, leading Genel to withdraw from the takeover process. Bidco plans to fund the cash consideration and associated fees from existing cash resources, and its financial adviser Lambert Energy has said sufficient funds are available to meet the revised offer. The scheme document is expected to be published by 29 September 2026, and the transaction, which remains subject to conditions, is expected to become effective during the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027, with shareholders able to elect to receive the cash consideration in sterling subject to exchange rate movements and any applicable transaction costs.

DNO has agreed to acquire Capricorn Energy for $396 million, marking its entry into Egypt's upstream oil and gas sector. The transaction adds Egyptian assets as a new operating region alongside DNO's existing positions in the North Sea and Kurdistan. Capricorn's board backed DNO's offer, which prevailed over a competing bid. The acquisition gives DNO a third operating leg, following the same playbook as the Sval Energi deal, which focused on established, high-margin assets. Key milestones now are deal completion timing and how DNO updates guidance once the Egyptian assets are consolidated, currently expected between Q4 2026 and Q1 2027.

Bloomberg News reports that the value of takeovers of companies listed on the UK stock market since the start of the year has surged more than 200% to nearly $110 billion, following a summer that saw several large deals announced, with foreign investors and private equity firms still seeking attractively valued businesses. The latest and largest deal is Veritas Capital's acquisition of Bodycote Plc for approximately £1.65 billion, or $2.2 billion, while Epiris has offered around £1 billion to buy Gamma Communications Plc, and Norway's energy company DNO has reached an agreement to acquire Capricorn Energy Plc for about £292 million. These deals follow the busiest summer on record for the UK M&A market, which previously saw acquisitions of EasyJet Plc and Segro Plc. Much of the buying has come from foreign companies and private equity funds looking for attractively priced assets in the UK stock market, which offers appealing valuations. Several UK companies have already been acquired, including Schroders Plc, Intertek Plc, and Beazley Plc. The acceleration of M&A deals is good news for investment banks in London, but it reflects the long-term challenges facing the UK capital markets, as London experiences a sluggish IPO and listing market, which could impact the ecosystem of the financial industry in the city.

Norwegian oil producer DNO has agreed a recommended cash acquisition of Capricorn Energy valued at approximately $396 million, outbidding Genel Energy for the UK-listed producer and giving DNO an entry into Egypt's upstream sector. Under the proposed transaction, Capricorn shareholders would receive an aggregate $5.214 per share, consisting of $4.224 per share in cash from DNO's acquisition vehicle and an expected $0.99-per-share special dividend to be paid by Capricorn, provided the necessary conditions are met. The total value represents roughly a 10% premium to the $4.74-per-share acquisition value offered by Genel, which had valued Capricorn at approximately $360 million. Capricorn's board now intends to unanimously recommend the DNO transaction, despite shareholders having already approved the Genel scheme on August 18, though that deal had not completed and remained subject to further conditions. For DNO, the acquisition would establish Egypt as a third core operating region alongside the North Sea and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with Capricorn's assets concentrated in Egypt's Western Desert, where the company reported working-interest production of 20,024 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025 and $134 million of Egyptian oil and gas revenue. The transaction remains conditional on Capricorn shareholder approval, court approval, and consent from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, with the scheme expected to become effective during the fourth quarter of 2026 or first quarter of 2027. The takeover contest also comes while DNO is separately considering an acquisition of Genel itself, having approached Genel with a possible offer after making an initial proposal on July 28, and has until September 4 to announce a firm offer for Genel or state that it does not intend to proceed.

Zephyr Energy has expanded its Utah land position by adding another 2,294 acres in the Paradox Basin, bringing its total operated position to more than 72,000 gross acres. Sintana Energy is heading into a busy second half with multiple wells planned across its Namibia and Uruguay portfolio, while its Mopane resource has been upgraded 57% to 1.38 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Genel Energy has agreed to buy Capricorn Energy in a recommended cash deal valuing Capricorn at around $360 million, a 34% premium that adds Egyptian production to Genel's Kurdistan operations. Supermarket Income REIT has completed a £445 million refinancing, cutting borrowing costs and pushing out its average debt maturity to 3.8 years, with no debt maturing until June 2028.

Genel Energy, Bidco, and Capricorn Energy have agreed on terms for a recommended cash acquisition of Capricorn by Bidco, a company indirectly owned by Genel Energy. The deal values Capricorn's entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital at approximately $360 million on a fully diluted basis. Capricorn shareholders will receive $3.75 in cash and a special dividend of $0.99 per share. The Capricorn directors intend to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the scheme.