Challenger Energy to be bought by Sintana in £45m all-share deal

(Sharecast News) - AIM-listed oil and gas exploration company Challenger Energy said on Thursday that it has agreed to be bought by Canada's Sintana Energy in an all-share deal that values the group at around £45m. Under the terms of the deal, Challenger shareholders will receive 0.4705 new Sintana shares for each of their shares and will own around 25% of the combined group.

The price is a 44% premium to the closing Challenger share price on Wednesday.

Sintana is a TSXV-quoted oil and gas exploration company with a primary portfolio of assets in Namibia.

Challenger chairman Iain McKendrick said: "This recommended merger fulfils all the strategic intentions of Challenger, creating an entity with a diversified and very high-graded portfolio, and which will be a springboard to further excellent returns for both sets of shareholders."

Sintana chief executive Robert Bose said: "The combination of Sintana and Challenger delivers on our long-term strategy to create and execute on a portfolio of exposures to high-impact exploration opportunities.

"Expanding our aperture to capture the promise of the Atlantic margin from Namibia and Angola to Uruguay with a diversified portfolio of development and exploration assets creates a market leader positioned to deliver significant success."

At 1020 BST, Challenger shares were up 6.7% at 13.42p.