Suncor presses Canadian Oil Sands shareholders for a takeover offer nod

Suncor Energy’s headquarters in Calgary, Canada. (Image: Screenshot from video by Francois Arseneault |Shutterstock.com)

Suncor Energy (TSX, NYSE:SU), Canada’s largest oil and gas company, is once again urging shareholders of Canadian Oil Sands (TSX:COS) to tender their shares to its offer for the company.

The firm highlighted Tuesday the premium shareholders would receive to Canadian Oil Sands’ current price if they accept Suncor’s offer, and warned that shares are likely to drop if the offer is rejected.

“If Suncor does not receive substantial support for its offer on January 8th, 2016, we will look to pursue other opportunities,” the oil giant said in a statement.

COS adopted a poison pill two days after Suncor made its unsolicited all-stock offer in early October, which valued the company at $4.3 billion.

Calgary-based Suncor is seeking to take advantage of the almost 70% fall in U.S. and global oil prices since mid-2014 to tighten its grip on Syncrude, Canada’s largest synthetic oil project. Suncor is aiming for a 49% stake in the venture, up from 12% currently. It is offering 0.25 of a share for each COS share.

“Hope is still not a strategy,” Suncor wrote in the letter to Canadian Oil Sands’ shareholders, stressing there was “little time remaining” before its tender offer expires on Friday, Jan. 8.