Total buys Maersk Oil for $7.45 billion

Total announced that it has purchased Maersk Oil in a share and debt transaction totalling almost $7.5 billion.

The acquisition includes Maersk receiving $4.95 billion in Total shares while Total will assume $2.5 billion of Maersk’s debt. The shares – 97.5 million of them – are based on the average share price of Total 20 business days prior to the deal’s signing date of Aug. 21 and represent less than 4 per cent of the enlarged share capital of Total.

The company has also offered a seat on its board of directors to A.P. Møller Holding A/S, the main shareholder of Maersk’s parent company.

It is expected that the deal will close officially sometime during the first quarter of 2018 with an effective date of July 1, 2017.

“The combination with Maersk Oil offers Total an exceptional overlap of upstream businesses globally which will enhance Total’s competitiveness and value in many core areas, in particular through some high quality growing assets and through the delivery of synergies,” the company said in a press release.

“The combination of Maersk Oil’s North Western Europe businesses with our existing portfolio will position Total as the second operator in the North Sea with strong production profiles in U.K., Norway and Denmark, thus increasing exposure to conventional assets in OECD countries,” Total chairman and chief executive officer Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement.

“We intend to build on the strong operational and technical competencies of the Maersk Oil teams in the same way we managed to do it in Belgium with the teams of Petrofina in the refining and chemical businesses,” he added.