Genel Energy (LSE:GENL) has increased its recommended cash offer for Capricorn Energy to $5.74 per share, a 10% premium to the rival bid tabled by Norway's DNO.
The oil producer's offer comprises $4.75 in cash plus a $0.99 special dividend expected to be declared before completion.
The increased value implies a fully diluted equity value of approximately $436 million, or £330 million, and represents a 63% premium to Capricorn's undisturbed share price of 266p on 10 March, the day before the offer period began.
Capricorn's directors withdrew their recommendation of the DNO offer with immediate effect and now back the Genel proposal, advised by Canaccord Genuity that its terms are fair and reasonable.
It has secured revised irrevocable undertakings covering roughly 39.1% of Capricorn's shares, from holders including Palliser Capital, Newtyn Management, Kite Lake and Madison Avenue, who must reject any rival offer unless it beats Genel's value by 10% or more.
Capricorn's core assets sit in Egypt's Western Desert, following the 2021 sale of its North Sea Catcher and Kraken interests.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Genel has raised its Capricorn bid to $5.74 per share—10% above DNO's rival offer—and won board backing and irrevocable commitments covering 39.1% of shares. The deal, valued at $436 million (£330 million), now needs only Egyptian government sign-off before expected Q4 close, removing the threat of a bidding war and clearing a path to materially expand Genel's regional scale in MENA.
- DNO must now decide whether to counter or walk; the 10% irrevocable threshold makes a rival bid costly and unlikely.
- Capricorn shareholders face a 63% premium to the pre-offer price, reducing litigation risk and accelerating deal certainty.
Genel is committing $436 million in cash to acquire Capricorn's Egyptian assets, a material deployment against its 1H 2026 net cash position of $108 million—the company will need to fund the gap through debt or asset sales. Regulatory approval is now the only material hurdle; if Egypt signs off in Q4, Genel gains a producing asset base in a new geography, but execution risk on integration and Egypt's operating environment remains.
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