PTTEP starts bidding war for Cove Energy

PTTEP has made an audacious bid to secure a foothold in the fast-growing African market by making a 220p a share offer for London-listed Cove Energy.

The bid tops a rival offer from Shell by 13% and values Cove Energy at 1.1 billion $1.7 billion. However, analysts reckon it is still not a knock-out bid, particularly if cash-rich Shell has its heart set on buying Cove.

Even so, PTTEP and its advisers at UBS said the offer is 134% above Cove’s 94p share price on December 12, which was the last business day before the company opened its data room. The offer is also 96% higher...