SilverBow Resources said on Thursday it has rejected largest shareholder Kimmeridge Energy Management’s latest offer that valued the oil and gas producer at $2.1 billion, including debt, in another rebuff of the asset manager’s efforts.
Kimmeridge, in its attempt to acquire the company over the last two years, had unveiled a new offer on March 13 that aimed at combining SilverBow with Kimmeridge’s gas-producing assets in South Texas, which the asset manager valued at about $1.4 billion, including debt.
SilverBow said the latest offer “substantially undervalues” the company and it is vital to conduct due diligence on Kimmeridge Texas Gas to determine the value of the assets.
Kimmeridge, which has a 12.9% stake in SilverBow, along with Riposte Capital, its second-largest shareholder, have also been pushing the U.S. energy firm to revamp its board.
SilverBow on Thursday rejected the three nominees proposed by Kimmeridge earlier in March. The company said all of them have close ties or history with Kimmeridge which raises questions over their “independence and ability to represent the interests of all SilverBow shareholders”.
SilverBow named Leland Jourdan, who worked at Chevron for nearly two decades, as a member of its board. It also revealed that Kimmeridge has proposed to remove Jourdan in an upcoming shareholder vote.
Riposte Capital declined to comment.
SilverBow said it is continuing to engage with Kimmeridge over the proposed deal. The company’s shares were marginally up in early trading.
Source: Reuters.com