Harbour Energy submits $13.5bn offer for Santos

Leading Australian oil and gas company Santos has announced that it has received an offer from Harbour Energy regarding the acquisition of the company in a deal worth $13.5bn.

The offer, valued at $4.98 (AUD$6.50) equates to a 30% premium compared to Santos's unaffected share price, valued at AUD$5.07 as of 29 March.

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The offer is the third one that Harbour has made for Santos since August 2017, with the latest offer posing as the most attractive to date for Santos.

"The Santos Board considers that, based on the indicative offer price of A$6.50 per share, it is in the interests of shareholders to engage further with Harbour," Santos said.

"We are pleased with the decision of the Santos Board to engage further and look forward to progressing this transaction towards completion," Harbour Energy CEO Linda Cook said.

Should the offer be accepted, Harbour will use Santos's assets and capabilities as a platform for growth in both the Australian and Asian markets, and has already announced its intentions to invest further into Santos to facilitating this.

Further, Harbour also announced that the headquarters of Santos would remain in Australia and would not be relocated to Harbour's US base.