OKLAHOMA CITY – Oil and gas company Equal Energy Ltd. (TSX:EQU) will be acquired by Petroflow Energy Corp. in a cash deal valued at US$230 million.
Equal Energy’s board has approved the sale, which gives the company US$5.43 per share, which is below Friday’s closing price of $5.74 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
However, it was a 56 per cent premium to the company’s trading price the day before Equal Energy said in March it was pursuing strategic alternatives. Equal’s shares were trading down a penny following Monday’s announcement, at $5.73.
The company says it will not to solicit any other bids, and agreed to a US$2 million break fee if it backs away from the deal — the same amount Petroflow will have to pay Equal if Petroflow backs out.
In March, it received interest from Alabama-based Montclair Energy LLC., which had put forth a $142-million takeover offer.
At the time, Equal said it turned down Montclair’s proposal because the U.S. company was unwilling to wait until a special committee could consider the offer and possible alternatives. Montclair, one of the company’s larger shareholders, upped its bid from $4 a share to $4.85 per share in September.
Equal Energy holds a portfolio of oil and gas properties in Oklahoma.
Petroflow Energy Corp. and Petroflow Canada Acquisition Corp. is an exploration and production company based in Oklahoma.
