Baillie Gifford on course to block Dragon Oil takeover

Published on Sunday 6 December 2009 19:53

SCOTTISH fund manager Baillie Gifford looks likely to succeed in blocking the takeover of Irish oil company Dragon Oil this week.

The board of Dragon, a company with substantial oil interests in Turkmenistan, recommended a 455p-a-share takeover by Enoc, the national oil company of Dubai, which owns 52 per cent of its shares. A meeting to vote on the takeover takes place on Friday.

Initially, the shares jumped to within 3 per cent of the offer price. However, they are now trading at just over 400p, after Baillie Gifford, Dragon's second largest shareholder, said it was voting against the deal last month.

Because of the structure of the deal, Enoc is unable to vote. To succeed, the scheme of arrangement needs three-quarters of those voting to support it, meaning opponents need, at most, 12 per cent of Dragon's shares to block it.

About 10 per cent of Dragon is owned by retail investors, who are less likely to vote, meaning a No vote by 10 per cent of its shares might scupper a deal.

Baillie Gifford has kept buying Dragon – 500,000 shares bought on Thursday took its stake to 4.63 per cent. Carmignac Gestion, with 0.83 per cent of Dragon, also plans to vote against the proposal.