> http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200804020701443743R
http://www.imperialenergy.com
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200807040700042799Y




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cyril

LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - "India's ONGC is near 90 percent acceptance of its 1.3 billion pounds ($1.88 billion) bid for Imperial Energy, the threshold at which it will be forced to complete the deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

'They are very close to the finish line,' the source said.

RBC Capital Markets predicted last week that if the deal was to collapse, the shares would fall to 270-500p/share, based on the recent share performance of other exploration companies operating in the former Soviet Union.

ONGC Videsh, the ONGC unit which is making the bid, declined comment, as did Imperial.

In a takeover, investors often wait to tender their shares to a bidder at the last moment, in the hope a higher bidder will emerge but Imperial and its advisors have been working hard to convince shareholders takeovers to accept the offer."

Getting a twitchy finger now, not sure my nerves can hold out much longer!

Twitchy finger won't do any of us any good, as stock is suspended from trading & as Cynic says, if the deal doesn't go through, the first we will know about it is the sp will have dropped through the floor. Win or lose, we are committed now!

I can still sell, I've been offered £11.10; was tempted to do so but will probably stay with it now.

Hmmm, nerves not as strong as I thought, sold a few at £11.08 'just in case'! That should send the sp all the way up to the offer price!!

I am amazed you can still sell! Your broker should have declared his/your position concerning acceptance of the offer & therefore your stock should be locked. Unless you are trading by CFD or spreadbet?

I have a nominee account and according to them I won't be seeing those shares/cash, back in my potfolio until the middle of January. Seems a long time.

No Harrycat, held by NatWest Stockbrokers as nominees, they gave me a choice; do nothing or accept the offer. If I did nothing I could still trade, so that's what I decided. I wasn't feeling easy about having to wait to the bitter end. My feeling now is that the bid will go through, but it will be a last minute thing. Not good for nervous souls like me ;0)

Bel1ze8SA, I assume that you accepted the offer?

Yes I did. By the way that was my first post .....so hello everybody, from a long time lurker.

kimoldfield, if this doesn't go through it's down to people like you not pledging to accept the offer.

Welcome Bel1ze8SA!


brianc236, I wouldn't worry too much about my holding, I have reduced it, last deal at 12.50, down to just 500; if the offer depended on that I will eat my hat (have to buy one first though). IF the offer does not go through you would need to look to the likes of UBS, who have clients in India.

Interesting Kim, as my broker said that if I do nothing, they will accept on my behalf. My other option was to refuse the offer. As the offer seems to be exceptional in today's market, I am surprised your broker didn't take the same stance. Perhaps they were hoping for a counter bid? Or maybe they were hoping to pick up your shares on the cheap???

Probably the latter Harrycat! They've had a few today!!

i am very surprised anyone could trade or if they could, then it meant that they had not committed (very foolish) ..... CFDs had to be declared a couple of days ago, and in IGs case (thus probably everyone), that meant your position was frozen

RBC Capital Markets predicted last week that if the deal was to collapse, the shares would fall to 270-500p/share .... do you think these guys had a big short position?

Cynic, my deadline for accepting the offer was 23rd, I wasn't feeling easy about the gap between that date and final acceptance without having control of the shares, hence my decision to not accept. If the acceptance level had been 75% not 90%, I would not have hesitated in taking the offer.

I think RBC were erring on the side of caution......a bit like me I suppose!

so was mine, but lucky for you that virtually all others accepted, otherwise pitch would have been queered for all, you included

I know; head's down, tail between legs. standing in the corner :o(

Actually, I don't feel that bad about it. I hoped that the shares I traded would eventually be taken by someone who would prefer to see the offer succeed, and therefore take up the offer by today's deadline; after all, it would have been in their own interests to do so. I very much doubt that the success/failure of the offer would hinge on the shares of a few day traders.