BG succeeds in bid for Pure Energy

BG Group has succeeded with its A$995m (US$694m) bid for Pure Energy of Australia.

The company announced on Tuesday that it had acquired 90.9 per cent of Pure, after Arrow Energy, another Australian company, sold BG its 20.3 per cent stake.

BG can now make compulsory purchases of the remaining Pure shares.

The deal will provide BG with additional assets in Queensland’s reserves of coal bed methane – gas produced from coal deposits.

The gas can be used to feed the liquefied natural gas plant that BG plans to build on the coast of Queensland, to serve Asian export markets.

There had been speculation that Royal Dutch Shell, which is a joint venture partner of Arrow in the region, might also mount a bid for Pure.

Rumours have recently been circulating in Australia that either BG or Shell might make a bid for Santos, another company with interests in Queensland’s coal bed methane with a market capitalisation of about A$10bn.

BG’s shares closed down 7p at £10.95.