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3D Oil Limited takeover defence
Baker & McKenzie has advised Australian-listed oil exploration and development company 3D Oil Limited on its successful defence of an attempted takeover by Drillsearch Energy Limited. The…
Lawyers Weekly
Baker & McKenzie has advised Australian-listed oil exploration and development company 3D Oil Limited on its successful defence of an attempted takeover by Drillsearch Energy Limited.
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The bid closed on 8 June, with Drillsearch failing to obtain its minimum acceptance condition of 50 per cent.
The Bakers team was led by corporate partner Richard Lustig, assisted by senior associate Josephine Tan. The team advised on the takeover defence which was conducted over an extended period.
The takeover bid attracted significant media interest in relation to a number of corporate governance and takeover-related aspects.
One of these was the split within the Drillsearch board - a split which became public.
"This shows the difficulty in successfully promoting a takeover bid if a bidder's board is not unified," said Lustig.
"It also shows that a bidder needs to be alert to the possibility that it may, itself, become a target by a third party," Lustig said.
"Drillsearch has itself become the subject of a takeover bid by Beach Petroleum, which raised various complications in the context of 3D Oil."
In advising 3D Oil, Baker & McKenzie worked closely with corporate advisor Gresham Advisory Partners Limited, led by executive director Craig Jensz.
