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DNO Bid for Capricorn Lapses

DNO's rival cash offer for Capricorn Energy has lapsed after its shareholder meetings were not held by the deadline, leaving Genel Energy's recommended bid as the only offer for the Egypt-focused oil producer.

DNO’s rival cash offer for Capricorn Energy (LON: CNE) has lapsed, leaving Genel Energy’s recommended bid as the only offer on the table. DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas company, announced it at 7am today, before the London open. Capricorn is a producer with operations in Egypt.

Capricorn shares traded at 418.84p in early Monday trading, up 0.2% on Friday’s close of 418p, on thin volume. The quote is delayed. The stock has drifted from 427p at the start of October and sits below the roughly 434p value of Genel’s offer.

CNE.LSE

The offer was structured as a scheme of arrangement, a court-approved takeover route that needs shareholder votes. Two of its conditions, covering those meetings, were not met by the Mini Long Stop Date, the deadline for the meetings, which fell on Saturday. DNO’s announcement gave no reason.

Bidco has invoked the Mini Long Stop Date condition of the DNO Scheme and, as such, the DNO Scheme has lapsed, with effect from this announcement.

DNO ASA and DNO Bidco AS

DNO had said on the 28th of September that its terms were final, would not be increased and would not be switched to a contractual offer, which left it no way to raise or restructure the bid.

Genel’s increased offer, announced on the 25th of September, is worth US$5.74 per share, about 434p, and is recommended by the Capricorn board. On AskTraders’ calculation the shares are about 3.5% below the current offer value.

Capricorn shareholders approved the original Genel terms on the 18th of August with more than 99% of votes cast. Capricorn said on the 2nd of October that no further meetings are needed for the increase.

Line chart of Capricorn Energy share price from August to November 2026 against Genel's roughly 434p offer value
Capricorn’s daily close against Genel’s approximate 434p offer value, 3 Aug to 6 Nov 2026. The shares closed at 450p on the day the increase was announced and have since slipped below the offer value.

The shares closed at 343p on the 28th of August, before DNO’s bid arrived on the 1st of September, and at 450p on the 25th of September, the day of Genel’s increase, before falling back to 427p on the 28th of September.

The remaining hurdle is the Egyptian Condition, the Egyptian government approval Genel’s deal still needs and the only outstanding regulatory condition. In its statement of the 2nd of October, Capricorn said Genel and Bidco continued to expect the scheme to become effective in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Asktraders News Team
Asktraders News Team
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The AskTraders Analyst Team features experts in technical and fundamental analysis, as well as traders specializing in stocks, forex, and cryptocurrency.

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