westside in talks on potential rival takeover , page-4

WestSide CEO says talks underway with potential buyers
Brett Cole |
3 hours ago
DataRoom |

WestSide says it is in talks with a number of companies that may want to acquire the gas explorer and producer after it rejected a takeover bid by China’s Landbridge.

“We are in discussions with other people,” WestSide chief executive Mike Hughes told Data Room in an interview. “They are a range of different players.” Mr Hughes declined to name the companies WestSide is speaking with.

WestSide says the talks are partly in response to Landbridge’s takeover offer of 40 cents a share or $178 million, a bid rejected by Mr Hughes and the company’s board as too low. Westside shares have surged 122 per cent this year and today closed up 2.5 cents, or 6.5 per cent, to 41 cents, a 52-week high, according to Bloomberg data.

In March this year WestSide, which is being advised on its takeover defense by boutique advisory firm Highbury Partnership and law firm Allens, signed a 20-year gas sale agreement. Mr Hughes says the company has 885 petajoules of reserves.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2014/5/16/dataroom/westside-ceo-says-talks-underway-potential-buyers