CALGARY – Shareholders in Canadian Oil Sands (COS) have until this evening to decide whether to accept a takeover offer from Canada’s dominant oilsands producer.
Suncor’s Energy’s all-stock bid, worth just over $4 billion, expires at 6 p.m. MT on Friday.
The company has said the likelihood of it raising its offer is negligible and it’s prepared to walk away and move on to other opportunities if it doesn’t garner enough support by the deadline.
At the crux of the battle is the outlook for oil.
COS is focused entirely on its 37 per cent share of the Syncrude oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta., making it particularly exposed to swings in commodity prices.
Suncor, whose 12 per cent stake in Syncrude represents a small slice of its oilsands holdings, believes oil prices will remain low for a long time and says COS shareholders face an uncertain future if they say no to the deal.
COS says the best way forward is for it to stay independent, and that it’s poised to prosper once crude prices recover.