Private investment fund eyes FAR takeover

Remus Horizons, a private investment fund, is exploring options to acquire Australia’s FAR Limited. As a result, FAR has rescheduled its shareholder meeting to discuss and approve its sale of Sangomar stake to be able to obtain further information.

FAR Limited said on Thursday it has received a conditional non-binding indicative proposal from Remus Horizons, a private investment fund regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, to engage in further discussions and further investigations for the purpose of evaluating its capacity to make an offer or announce an intention to make an offer to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of FAR at 2.1c cash per share.

FAR cautioned that the proposal is not a legally binding offer, there is no certainty that it will necessarily eventuate, and that the proposal terms are uncertain at this stage.

Remus has stated that the price represents a premium to the cash backing per share that would exist if FAR was to complete the sale of the RSSD project to Woodside Energy, which pre-empted the earlier proposed sale to ONGC Videsh.

Remus has stated that it is conditional, amongst other things, on the FAR shareholder meeting to consider approving the sale of the RSSD project scheduled for 21 December 2020 being rescheduled.

It is also conditional on FAR providing access to management and information in relation to the RSSD project and Remus being satisfied with such information and no superior proposal emerging.

Remus’ proposal will be funded from available internal cash reserves and any formal binding offer would not include any financing conditions.

Remus has stated that it is willing to discuss the possibility of making available a zero-coupon bridge loan to FAR of up to $50 million from the date of any binding offer on terms and subject to conditions to be agreed to enable FAR to meet its valid funding calls in relation to its interest in the RSSD project and other necessary working capital requirements.

Remus has also stated that it is well placed to move quickly to complete its confirmatory investigations and has committed to engage collaboratively with FAR to progress the proposal.

The company is in the process of seeking clarification from Remus regarding various aspects associated with the proposal.

With this in mind, FAR has determined to postpone the shareholder meeting currently scheduled for 21 December 2020 to 21 January 2021.

This will enable further time for the company and its shareholders to be able to obtain further information in relation to the proposal and assess the relative merits of the sale alternative and the proposal.