Here's the rumor that was driving the volume and price rise today. Hope it's true because PanCanadian certainly has the resources to make a very solid bid. Anyone know the exchange rate of Canadian dollar to US dollar?
this is what just came out in Toronto
by: gucio_man_1999 6/8/00 3:31 pm
Msg: 1337 of 1338
Ranger Oil Stock Jumps on PanCanadian Bid Rumor
15:12 EDT Thursday, June 08, 2000
By Jeffrey Jones
CALGARY (Reuters) - Shares of takeover target Ranger Oil Ltd. (RGO.TO) hit a new 52-week high in heavy volume on Thursday, a day before bids for the international oil and gas producer were due, in an auction process.
Industry sources said a new rumor that PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. (PCP.TO), one of the country's biggest energy firms, was readying a cash bid for Ranger was driving
the stock on Thursday.
Ranger shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange were up 50 Canadian cents, or more than 6.5 percent, to C$8.05 in early afternoon trade, with more than 4.5 million shares
changing hands.
Offers for the company under its auction process were due on Friday, days after hostile bidder, Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. (PBG.TO), extended its C$983-million cash-and-stock bid for the second time, but with a twist.
It said on Tuesday that Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. (AEC.TO) had agreed to buy Ranger natural gas assets for C$262 million ($177 million) should the Petrobank offer fly.
Apart from its Canadian gas operations, Ranger is also known for exploration and production assets in the North Sea and off the coast of west Africa as well as heavy
oil properties in western Canada.
``The rumor on the street is PanCanadian with a C$9-a-share cash bid,'' said Brian Prokop, analyst with Calgary-based brokerage Peters & Co. Ltd.
The operations of PanCanadian, 87-percent owned by conglomerate Canadian Pacific Ltd. (CP.TO), would fit well with many of Ranger's, including gas and heavy oil in Alberta, as well as the array of non-operated North Sea assets, he said.
``I've heard that rumor,'' said Dan Rice, portfolio manager with Boston-based State Street Research and Management Co., which controls 8.8 million shares, or roughly 7 percent of the total.
``You would think it would fit. Now whether or not PanCanadian, even if they make a bid, is going to win is a second question altogether,'' Rice said.
A PanCanadian spokesman said he could not comment on any market speculation.
Ranger was lobbed into play on April 6, when Petrobank, which is about a tenth the size of its target, said it wanted to assume management of the assets by offering C$2.50 in cash and two of its shares for each Ranger share.
Petrobank launched its offensive just hours after Ranger said it had hired advisers to help it look for buyers for the company, which had suffered a string of operating and financial disappointments amid surging oil and gas prices.
Ranger also accused Petrobank executives of insider trading and asked a New York judge to halt the bid, a legal action that was struck down last month.
Fred Dyment, Ranger's chief executive, has said he would consider selling the company as a whole, or broken up, to potential bidders.
``We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings, we're not going to comment at this stage,'' Dyment said on Thursday.
It could be several days before Ranger decides on a winning bid, especially if it opts to go the break-up route, said Rice, adding he believed the company to be worth more than C$9 a share, and possibly C$10 or C$11.
``I've got more justification of that number with the AEC planned purchase from Petrobank,'' he said. ``Most analysts were using a number C$80 million less for assets AEC's willing to buy.''
|
