Santos announced on Monday that it has agreed to an extension of the process deed to September 19.
In June, Santos received a non-binding indicative proposal from the XRG consortium, which includes Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company (ADQ) and US-based investment firm Carlyle.
The proposal is for the acquisition of all of the ordinary shares on issue in Santos for a cash offer price of $5.76 per Santos share via a scheme of arrangement.
Santos announced in a statement on June 27 that it has entered into a process and exclusivity deed with the consortium.
The consortium had been granted exclusive due diligence access for a period of six weeks, starting June 27.
Earlier this month, the consortium had substantially completed due diligence, while Santos consented to an extension until August 22 to enable the XRG consortium to finalise due diligence and progress a scheme implementation agreement (SIA).
Last week, Santos said that the consortium would not be able to finalize the takeover bid for another four weeks.
The company said in the update on Monday that the XRG consortium again confirmed it has “not found anything in due diligence that would lead it to withdraw its indicative proposal.”
Also, the consortium has requested an extension of the exclusivity period to conclude due diligence and to allow the consortium to obtain all necessary approvals to enter into a binding transaction.
According to Santos, the exclusivity restrictions summarised in its June statement will continue to apply during the period of the extension.
Santos said there is no certainty that a binding SIA will be agreed or that a potential transaction will proceed.
