stokes ups holding

DrillSearch, buying 37.8 million shares in a deal executed by Deutsche Bank.
The additional slice of stock was bought at $1.15 per share and has sparked expectations Seven Group intends to mount a takeover for the energy minnow.
Sources said the seller was an institutional investor.
Outgoing chief executive of Seven Don Voelte has previously insisted the company’s moves in the Cooper Basin are an investment only, rather than a play for control.
Most in the market believe Mr Stokes and Mr Voelte, who on Monday announced his upcoming retirement, are betting on consolidation in the Cooper Basin, as $70 billion of LNG plants at Gladstone in Queensland start to suck up most available gas in the next couple of years.


Controlling holdings in both DrillSearch and Beach gives blocking stakes to Kerry Stokes as well as a big say in how the consolidation unfolds.
On the other hand, Mr Voelte’s successor Ryan Stokes has said he is interested in further acquisitions if the oil price rout throws them up.
This article first appeared in The Australian Business Review



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