RAK Petroleum PCL announces agreement to acquire Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited

RAK Petroleum PCL (‘RAK Petroleum’) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited (‘Gulf Keystone’) to acquire all of the issued and to be issued share capital of Gulf Keystone.

The transaction is recommended by the Board of Directors of Gulf Keystone, who have given irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the acquisition. The transaction, which will be effected through an amalgamation under Bermuda law, is subject to certain conditions, including the approval by a simple majority of Gulf Keystone shareholders in a general meeting and Algerian regulatory consents.

The acquisition contributes further to RAK Petroleum’s aim of developing into a major regional gas and oil player and will add to the recently announced Indago Petroleum’s assets.
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of RAK Petroleum, commented, ‘We are delighted to have reached agreement on the acquisition of Gulf Keystone. When combined with our recently completed acquisition of Indago Petroleum’s assets, we believe this creates a strong platform for future growth within the strategic focus areas of RAK Petroleum, especially in the gas rich provinces of the Middle East and North Africa.’

The acquisition represents a premium of approximately 21 per cent to the average closing price of approximately 61 pence per share of Gulf Keystone, for the three month period ended on February 05, 2007, the last dealing day prior to the date of Gulf Keystone’s announcement that it was in discussions regarding a possible transaction.

The deal emphasizes the implementation of the core strategy of securing access to attractive gas and oil reserves in the Middle East and North Africa.

RAK Petroleum has received irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution from the Directors, Gulf Keystone Petroleum Co. LLC, GIBCA, Ali Al-Qabandi and Ibrahim Al-Khaldi in respect of 90,973,366 Gulf Keystone shares (representing approximately 33 percent of the Gulf Keystone issued share capital). RAK Petroleum also announced last month that it has reached an agreement with Indago Petroleum Limited on an all cash consideration of £194 million to purchase substantially all of Indago Petroleum’s exploration and production assets, which are located in the UAE and Oman.

The Gulf Keystone transaction builds a diverse portfolio of reserves around the experienced UAE-based management team acquired with the Indago assets and the investment that RAK Petroleum holds in Anzon Energy Ltd. Together, the three operations offer an attractive portfolio of technical expertise, production and development assets that are complementary to RAK Petroleum’s regional and international ambitions, relationships and financial capacity.
Goldman Sachs International acted as sole financial advisor to RAK Petroleum.

Information from: www.ameinfo.com