Dragon Oil pulls plug on Petroceltic takeover bid

Middle-Eastern exploration firm, Dragon Oil has withdrawn its interest in Irish company, Petroceltic, citing “prevailing market conditions” for its decision.

Earlier this year, the Dubai-based company – whose shares are listed in Dublin – approached Petroceltic with a proposed 230p per share/€636m takeover offer and undertook due diligence before entering talks with its majority owner, the Emirates National Oil Company to seek formal backing.

Last week, the Irish Takeover Panel gave Dragon a three-week deadline – to the close of business on December 19 – to effectively ‘put up or shut up’ by either saying it would table a firm bid for Petroceltic or walk away from the process.