Oil and gas junior Horizon Oil and potential suitor Roc Oil Company have both entered a trading halt following a takeover bid. Both companies cited a potential transaction as the reason to halt trade.
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The energy player has been the recipient of some good news this month by progressing its $US300 million ($323 million) Stanley gas condensate project in Papua New Guinea.
''The trading halt is required pending an announcement to the market in connection with a potential material control transaction which is still under consideration by the company,'' Horizon chief financial officer Michael Sheridan said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
Trading for both companies is expected to resume on Tuesday, or earlier, if the announcement is made before then.
While the approval from the PNG government was not unexpected, Ord Minnett analyst John Young said at the time it augured well for Horizon's efforts to develop its other, bigger gas and liquids fields nearby.
The company's other main assets are a stake in the producing Maari field in New Zealand and in the Beibu Gulf oil project in China.
Horizon shares finished Wednesday 10.5 per cent higher at 3.5¢, while Roc Oil shares last traded at 45.5¢.
The takeover talks come at a time of substantial merger and acquisition interest in Australia's oil and gas sector.
ASX-listed Aurora Oil & Gas is under offer from Canada's Baytex, while Senex Energy made a play for AWE late last year.
