Soco International terminates merger talks with Kuwait Energy

06 March 2018
The two oil and gas firms have been unable to reach an agreement for a potential transaction

London-based Soco International and regional private exploration and production (E&P) firm Kuwait Energy have announced ending discussions for a potential merger, as the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement for a favourable transaction.

The two E&P firms had on 8 January confirmed they were in talks for a potential combination.

MEED in February reported that discussions between the two firms were progressing, although no terms had been agreed upon at the time.

In a statement posted on its website Soco International says: ‘The SOCO team, which has a track record of delivering shareholder value through asset acquisition and monetisation, delivering large scale developments, and returning capital to shareholders, evaluates [mergers and acquisitions] M&A opportunities with reference to strict strategic, financial and operational criteria and only pursues transactions if they are determined by SOCO’s Board to be in the best interest of shareholders. SOCO’s Board continues to evaluate opportunities in accordance with these criteria.’

The failure of the merger negotiations with London Stock Exchange-listed Soco is understood to be a setback for Kuwait Energy, which had hoped to go public on the London bourse by way of the merger.

Kuwait Energy had on two previous attempts been unable to list on the London market by way of initial public offerings (IPO).

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