Pacific Rubiales Extends Weekly Gain to 51% as Alfa Bets Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., Latin America’s biggest non-state-owned crude producer, extended a weekly rally to 51 percent on renewed speculation its largest shareholder will make a takeover offer.
Shares of the Bogota-based company gained 23 percent to C$3.91 at 1:40 p.m. in Toronto, climbing for a fourth day and rebounding from the lowest level since 2009. The stock also joined a rally in crude oil, which is set for the biggest weekly advance since 2011.
Mexican conglomerate Alfa SAB would consider buying, selling or keeping shares of Pacific Rubiales, Chairman Armando Garza said at a press conference on Wednesday. Such a decision “isn’t easy to make,” he said. The comments renewed optimism about a potential takeover, according to David Neuhauser, a fund manager at Livermore Partners in Northbrook, Illinois.
“The Alfa quotes are very mixed but the writing is on the wall,” Neuhauser, whose firm owns Pacific Rubiales shares, said in an e-mail.
Alfa had a 19 percent stake in the oil producer in October, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on regulatory filings.
“Alfa is a valued investor,” Peter Volk, a spokesman for Pacific Rubiales in Toronto, said by e-mail. “We have no particular insight into their plans, however. So no comment.”