Alfa SAB Buys 20% Pacific Rubiales Buyout Coming. TakeOver ..Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp.Mexico’s Alfa SAB said it’s considering an offer to buy more shares in the Colombian oil producer after months of speculation about a possible takeover. Shares in Pacific Rubiales jumped 16 percent to 33,740 pesos at 11:54 a.m. in Bogota, the steepest gain since it began trading in December 2009. Alfa, a San Pedro Garza Garcia-based auto parts and petrochemical group, lost 5.1 percent to 39.35 pesos, the biggest drop in Mexico’s benchmark.
After building a 19 percent stake in Pacific Rubiales, Alfa may undertake a tender offer with other partners for the remaining stock, the company said in an e-mailed response to questions. No decision has been made and it may also opt to hold or reduce the stake, the company said. Earlier today, Alfa said it will seek shareholder approval at a Nov. 4 meeting to issue new stock as Mexico opens up its energy industry to private capital for the first time in 76 years.
“They’re getting close to an acquisition,” Fernando Bolanos, an analyst at Monex Casa de Bolsa, said in a telephone interview from Mexico City. “It would be a bit strange if they didn’t do it now that they’re talking about a public offering.”
Alfa boosted its stake in Pacific Rubiales, which also trades in Toronto, to 19 percent, data as of Oct. 16 by Canada based-System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders show. That’s just below the 20 percent threshold requiring a bid for outstanding shares in most cases under Canadian securities law.
Possible partners
Alfa could “continue buying until it surpasses 20 percent and launch a tender offer, maintain the holding that it has at the moment, or reduce the holding, that until now has been maintained as a financial investment,” the company said in its e-mail. If the company opts for a tender offer, due to the size of Pacific Rubiales “Alfa would seek to form some type of investment consortium to reduce our expenditure,” it said.
The e-mailed response, said the capital increase could be for about $1 billion USD. The group’s push into energy follows a 24 percent slump in the price of crude this year.
Alfa seeks to “capitalize our experience in shale gas, exploration and production of conventional petroleum, as well as electricity generation and sales,” the company said in the earlier statement. “The approval of this capital increase will give us significant financial flexibility.”
Pacific Rubiales said that it signed an agreement with Petroleos Mexicanos to study oil and gas ventures. The producer has more than $1 billion USD ready to invest in Mexico with the aim of doubling oil output by 2020, Chief Executive Officer Ronald Pantin said in an interview last month.......
#1Thedave2006 on Stockhouse Pacific RUBIALES Buyout Takeover target.