Barring catastrophe, this more or less closes out the takeover drama for Canadian Oil Sands' investors. The same cannot be said of those still riding the roller coaster that is Mart Resources Inc. (MMT), which added 8.5 cents to 17 cents on 16.3 million shares, after agreeing to its third offer in 11 months. It plans to sell itself to Midwestern Oil for 25 cents a share. Midwestern is one of Mart's joint venturers at the Nigerian oil fields OML 18 (of which Mart indirectly owns about 10 per cent) and Umusadege (which is owned entirely by Midwestern and another company, both of which grant Mart a share of production in exchange for services). This is Midwestern's second official attempt at taking over Mart. In March, 2015, it offered 80 cents a share, though Mart's investors were immediately skeptical that Midwestern could really afford it. Mart's stock never went to 80 cents or even past 70 cents. The offer was terminated in August after Midwestern failed to meet the deadline. (It is worth noting that throughout this period, Mart was embroiled in an internal drama with its former CEO, Wade Cherwayko, over multiple breaches of company policies. This also put pressure on the stock.) In October, another purported suitor emerged: the Saudi Arabia-based Delta Group, which offered 35 cents a share. Mart's investors were skeptical again, and again they were right; the deal was dropped last month. Now Midwestern is back with an offer of 25 cents a share.
As usual, Mart's stock (at 17 cents) is not going anywhere near the offer price, though there is some evidence that investors can hope for a proper closing this time around. That evidence is called San Leon Energy, an AIM-listed Irish company with operations in Europe and North Africa. It is trading at 29.75 pence, or about 60 cents. According to Mart's press release, San Leon will complete a financing and give Midwestern enough money to close the takeover. Mart does not explain what San Leon will get in return, but San Leon's press release does, and also states that proof of financing for more than $100-million (U.S.) of the $180-million (U.S.) deal has already been secured. The actual cost of acquiring Mart's shares is only about $62-million (U 374603.S.). The rest of the money partly reflects the real meat of what San Leon is getting: a 9.72-per-cent interest in OML 18. To put things in perspective, Mart acquired an "approximately 10-per-cent" interest in OML 18 in March, 2015, for $134-million (U.S.). It has since provided scant details about OML 18 and has not even released a reserve report (although it did note that gross production in September, 2015, was 31,600 barrels of oil a day). The terms of the deal as laid out by San Leon suggests that it has seen something that Mart's investors have not. Even so, they may simply feel relieved to have a way out. The takeover is expected to close in March.