Australian miner Hancock, which is wholly owned by Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, has become the third firm to bid for Australian independent Warrego Energy.
Hancock's cash bid of A$0.23/share ($0.15/share) is higher than the two rival bids from Australian independents Beach Energy and Strike Energy.
Beach's offer for Warrego is worth around A$0.20/share and Strike has offered around A$0.186/share. The Hancock offer is open until 31 January 2023. Warrego's main asset is its 50pc stake in the onshore West Erregulla gas project in the Perth basin in Western Australia. The other half of the project is owned by Strike, which is the operator.
Warrego has joined a consortium that plans to use gas, presumably from West Erregulla, to produce 40,000 t/yr of ammonia from hydrogen using carbon capture and storage.
This is the second takeover of an Australian domestic gas producer/explorer that Hancock has been involved in. It bid successfully with South Korean steel producer Posco for Australian independent Senex Energy in a A$960mn equity transaction earlier this year.
Rinehart's main asset is her controlling interest in the 55mn t/yr Roy Hill iron ore mine in Western Australia that is held by her firm Hancock Prospecting.
