In a statement to the ASX today, Santos said the offer price of US$4.98 per share – or a total of about $13.7 billion – was unchanged, but a number of “significant changes” had been made to the transaction structure, compared to the previous offer.

The price is the same as Harbour’s offer lodged in early April, despite oil prices increasing stongly since then.

Santos said there was “no certainty” that the proposal from the private US firm would result in the takeover going ahead.

“The revised Harbour Proposal is subject to conditions, including completion of final confirmatory due diligence and entry into a scheme implementation deed between Santos and Harbour, which requires the transaction to be recommended by the independent directors of the Santos Board and includes, among other things, FIRB and shareholder approval conditions,” Santos said in a statement.

“The independent directors of Santos will consider the Revised Harbour Proposal and will update shareholders accordingly.”

“There is no certainty that the Revised Harbour Proposal will result in an offer for Santos that is capable of being considered by shareholders. Santos shareholders are advised to take no
action in relation to the Revised Harbour Proposal at this time.”

The due diligence process will take five weeks.