Current Speculation from CalgaryMassive trading in shares of Anderson Exploration Ltd. fuelled
rampant rumours the Calgary producer is on the cusp of being taken
over by a big U.S. patch player.
Speculation has Anadarko Petroleum Corp. as the suitor at an
asking price of $7.7 billion.
Stock traders boosted Anderson shares $1.06 to $27.74 on the
Toronto Stock Exchange -- on a day when most natural gas
producers lost ground.
"The ru-mours got more specific as the day wore on that the data
room has been opened and the asking price is $42 a share," said
Gord Currie, an oil and gas analyst with Canaccord Capital in
Calgary.
More than 3.7 million Anderson shares changed hands, among the
highest volume ever for the company which has been bandied about
for months as a prime takeover target for U.S. giants looking north
to bolster their natural gas holdings.
The Calgary-based producer has been among the most aggressive
in pursuing natural gas. It's now over 70% weighted towards gas
and is Canada's fifth most-prolific producer.
Its attractiveness is enhanced by its extensive holdings North of 60
which include 1.3 million net acres of undeveloped land in the
Mackenzie Delta region of the Northwest Territories, thought to be
the next big gas play.
Houston-based Anadarko has aggressively been snapping up
assets north of the border, acquiring Berkley Petroleum Corp. for
$1.68 billion last March and Gulfstream Resources Canada for
$208 million in June.
No one at either Anderson or Anadarko would comment on the
speculation but analysts worked overtime to assess the credibility of
the tales.
"That's a lot of shares to be traded for Anderson in a single day --
something seems fishy," Peter Linder of Research Capital Corp.
said. But he noted company founder and CEO J.C. Anderson owns
a large chunk of the company, making hostile takeover unlikely
unless he wants to sell.